Meijin to Ou to Vanadis
by Hurricane's Quill
Summary: Raymond Kens, despite suffering from Addison's Disease, is one of the best Gunpla Fighters in Canada. However, an accident involving Plavsky Particles sends him to the Dinant Plains, where he's promptly discovered by Tigre before his fated encounter with Ellen. Ray must now serve Ellen as her Gunpla Meijin, even as his life slowly burns away.
1. Archer, War Maiden, and Meijin

**HQ UPDATE: I was told by sources that my depiction of Addison's Disease was in error. I have taken the time to correct the mistake.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter One: The Archer, The War Maiden, and the Meijin<strong>

Raymond awoke to the smell of rotting flesh and blood. His head shot up, and found that he was staring into the face of a dead man, his eyes forever frozen open in death. Realizing what he was looking at, Ray quickly shot up and scrambled backward, looking around, only to find more and more dead bodies and blood around him. He was on some kind grassy plain, the skies dark and gray, as if to match the mood of the place around him.

"What the hell?" Ray asked, his voice a terrified squeak. He got to his feet, quickly checking around him. "Kira? Kira, where are you?"

He got no reply, save for the slight hush of wind through the bloodied grasses. He dug into his pocket, and pulled out his cell phone, and was rewarded with the words _No Signal. _He groaned, stuffing it back in his leather aviator's jacket. He adjusted the red scarf around his neck and the fingerless gloves on his hands, and looked around. Once he was certain he knew where the sun was (it was poking through the clouds in the east, so it was probably early morning), he proceeded to make his way there, following the sun to someplace that wasn't stinking of death.

Something glittered in the grass. Curious, Ray approached it and knelt down, revealing some kind of watch-like device with a stone in the center. It almost reminded him of an Arista, the stone described by Dr. Nils Nielsen, physicist and Gunpla Fighter supreme, as the stone from which Plavsky Particles were formed. They were able to re-manufacture the Plavsky Particles after the destruction of the Arista and the merger of Yajima Trading Company and PPSE, but it was the first time he had seen Arista up close. For a moment, he thought about leaving it there, as it may have belonged to someone in the plains, but with everyone else dead around him, chances of that were low. Instead, he attached it to his own wrist. It felt cold to the touch; clearly it had been resting there for some time. As he started to rise again, he spotted something else next to the place where the watch was, and it nearly made his heart stop in his chest.

It was a broken Gunpla.

Raymond reached out to the piece, which was in several pieces on the ground. It was based on the Hyaku Shiki Kai, the upgraded version of the Hyaku Shiki from Zeta Gundam. It was colored dark blue, with white, yellow, and red accents here and there. On its shoulder, in place of the Japanese kanji for the number 100, was some kind of crest, probably royal in nature, depicting a red horse with a white mane on a blue field. It was a sad sight, certainly, to see a Gunpla broken and far from its owner, if he or she were still alive.

Suddenly, the grass rustled. Raymond stood up, putting the pieces of the broken Gunpla in his jacket. A loud whistling caught his attention, and he immediately ducked. An air whistled over his head, ruffling his hair as it hissed by. Raymond whirled, looking for his attacker, but suddenly his attacker appeared, a red-headed man with yellow eyes, almost like a hawk, striking him with the curve of his bow. Raymond, completely taken by surprise, flopped to the ground, allowing the redhead to notch another arrow and put it on his bowstring, pointing it at Raymond's head.

"Don't move!" the young man declared, the arrowhead somehow barely reflecting Raymond's scared visage. "…where did you get that bracelet!?"

"Bracelet!? What bracelet?!"

"That thing on your arm, the one I saw you pick up. Where did you get it?"

"I found it! On the ground just now! I swear!"

The redhead pursed his lips, trying to sense falsehood in Raymond's panicked voice. "...who are you?"

Raymond couldn't answer, seeing his death balancing on the tip of the iron arrow between his eyes. Instead, he moved his eyes to his exposed right wrist, where a silver and black bracelet was next to the watch device he'd picked up before. The youth relaxed the bowstring, but then dropped his knee on Raymond's chest, causing a loud gasp from him as he grabbed his arm, bringing the bracelet to his eyes. His suspicious gaze softened into curiosity as he observed the small silver plate that kept it together. On it was a six point star imposed on a hexagon in dark blue, with a snake coiled around a small staff in the center. And next to it, words etched into the plate in the same dark blue.

"Raymond A. Kens…Dec. 10, 2008…Addison's Disease…Call 911 for Emergencies? What is this?"

"It's a medical bracelet. It's so people know about my medical condition and to call for help if I get in trouble," Raymond coughed. "Now could you get off me? You're crushing my ribs!"

The youth considered it, and then got to his feet, allowing Raymond to breathe. "I've never heard of this Addison's Disease before…or calling 911 for help…"

"It's fairly rare," Raymond said, still coughing as another whiff of dead flesh came into his nose. "Well, seeing as I've introduced myself, is to too much to ask the same of you?"

The young man nodded, shouldering his bow. "Tigrevurmud Vorn, Earl of Alsace in the Kingdom of Brune. But you can call me Tigre. And these…these are the plains of Dinant."

Raymond frowned, none of the locations at all familiar to him as he looked around at the battlefield. "…I hope it doesn't look like this every season."

Tigre gave a hollow chuckle at the jape, also looking out over the battlefield. "You merely come on a bad day, Raymond. A very, very bad day."

"Call me Ray. Everyone does," Raymond said with a grin.

"Brune survivors!"

Tigre had no time to reply as another cavalry knight came galloping in from some unseen dip in the hills, headed right for the two of them with a longsword in hand. Ray visibly jumped as he looked around the dead bodies for a usable weapon, but Tigre didn't even flinch. Instead, he took the bow with the already-notched arrow on it and fired a quick snap shot. There was a quick twang and whipping noise, and the knight went flying off his horse, struck dead by the arrow in his skull. The horse, meanwhile, galloped past them, over the hills to safety, wherever it could find it.

"Damn…I shot that man for the horse…" Tigre sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"…guess we're footin' it to wherever we're going to," grunted Ray.

Tigre, however was more interested in something else. Far in the distance, farther than Raymond could see, was a small contigent of soldiers. "Maybe not. Come, quickly!" With that, he took off into the hills, with Ray not far behind him. The two of them reached a large boulder and quickly took cover behind it, Tigre peeking out as he knocked another bow.

"Four arrows…seven enemies…and one of them is the war maiden."

"What?" Ray asked, peeking out over the top as he adjusted his glasses. Sure enough, he could pick out seven enemies approaching them, apparently unaware of their presence. The one in the center of the formation, however, was the one who stood out to Ray the most: a woman with long silver-white hair and red eyes and pale skin. She was dressed in a blue top that accentuated her quite ample breasts and a short blue and red skirt. It'd be borderline indecent, if he hadn't already been exposed to Gunpla Idol Kirara.

"A war maiden. A woman of unbelievable power on the battlefield. Trust me, I've seen her skill on the battlefield already. It's…unbelieveable, to say the least." Tigre almost sounded in awe, but it was less out of respect and more out of fear. "But, at 300 alsins, I doubt she'll have the foresight to see me coming."

"300 what-sins?" Ray asked. He wanted to check the range himself, but he was much more accustomed to making judgments while he had access to camera magnifications. A good ballpark estimate was at least 300 yards, give or take about five, so he quickly ran the math in his head. "…she's gotta be at least a good quarter of a mile out, you really think you can hit her from this distance with that puny thing!?"

"I have to," Tigre said grimly. "Otherwise, we're both dead. Stay here and let me handle this." With that, Tigre dashed out of cover, pulling out two arrows from his quiver. He notched one and pulled back on the string, sizing up the shot. "Eris, goddess of wind and storms…!"

He let fly. And then fired again. The two knights on either side of the woman fell over as their steeds slumped dead to the ground. The group halted. The woman drew her sword, or at least, Ray thought she did. She looked at her two dead soldiers for a moment, and then took off in a gallop to meet Tigre head-on. "Tigre, time to go, I think!"

Tigre didn't reply. He instead pulled out the last two arrows he had. He put one in his teeth and notched the other, took aim, and fired again. The woman swung her sword, deflecting the arrow away, a powerful gust of wind suddenly knocking Raymond off his perch. Tigre ignored that too, instead trying for another snap shot to take her by surprise.

She smashed that one clean out of the air. Tigre lowered his eyes, defeated, as she finally came up to meet him, pointing her silver sword at his skull. "Throw down the bow," she commanded. Tigre complied. "Where is your friend? Bring him over."

"Hold on, hold on, he's coming," Ray grunted, quickly scrambling to his feet as he dusted the dirt off his jacket, and quickly joined Tigre at his side, holding up his hands to show he was unarmed.

"My name is Eleonora Viltaria. Who are you two?"

"I am Tigrevurmud Vorn," Tigre said, his face passive.

"The name's Raymond. Raymond Anselm Kens."

"Very well," Eleonora said with a hint of pride, putting her sword away. "From now on, you two belong to me."

Ray blinked, looking from Tigre to Eleonora. "Wait…what?"

* * *

><p><em>Tigre remembered the Battle of Dinant. He wished he could forget. <em>

_The Brune army was composed of 25,000 fighting men, all with high spirits, led by the crown prince, Prince Regnas. Tigre himself, as an earl, had been called in to fight as well. Of course, the problem was that Tigre was only good as an archer. And not a lot of Brune soldiers liked archers. They were viewed as cowardly, or so unskilled to be unworthy. Tigre had been sitting in the main Brune camp, next to a fire to ward off the early fall chill, with his loyal retainer, Bertrand. Even though he knew he didn't have the kind of reputation that came with being an archer, he was just happy to serve his country. _

_Unfortunately, he was soon approached by Zion Thernadier, the son of Duke Felix Thernadier. And he made sure everyone knew it, too, as he was dressed in fine armor and carrying a well-crafted sword, and tended to look down on everyone with a certain kind of smug smirk. "Well, well. So you're here too, Vorn?"_

_Bertrand moved, clearly wanting to instill some discipline in him, but Tigre held out a hand, stopping him as he stood up to greet him. "Lord Zion Thernadier. I, too, have been summoned to fight as one of the King's-"_

"_Well, someone's demure in their words today. Though seriously, what good are _you _supposed to do? I mean, for gods' sakes, you're wearing leather armor! Can't afford decent plate like the rest of us?" Zion cracked, his two subordinates sniggering. Zion looked down, spotting the mahogany bow laying at Tigre's feet, and immediately went to crush it under his boot. _

_Tigre acted quickly, pulling his bow out of the way. Zion's boot caught on the grip, causing him to stumble backwards and fall to the ground. "What on earth were you trying to do, bending my bow like that?!"_

"_The only reason you picked the bow was because you can't fight with sword or spear," Zion sneered, getting to his feet. "And the fact that you brought an old man as your attendant…" Bertrand stood up angrily at that statement. "…you're an absolute disgrace! Any count worth the title should be…" _

"_Lord Zion."_

_Zion squeaked, seeing an armored man with graying hair stand up from nearby. _

"_As eloquently as you're speaking, you must be thirsty. Why don't you go join the soldiers for the wine distribution?"_

_Zion knew better than to mess with the man. While Sir Massas was around the same rank as Tigre was in the nobility, he was still a well-respected man and his dignity as a knight, not to mention his experience in his 55 years of age, gave no brook for argument, despite the polite wording he used. Zion promptly skulked away with his subordinates. Whether it was because of facing Massas or Zion, nobody really looked their way again after that._

"_Thank you for saving me back there, Sir Massas," Tigre said, checking his bow's condition in the firelight. "I wanted to let it go, but I couldn't help myself once he tried smashing my bow." _

_Massas waved it off. "It's quite alright."_

_Tigre went to stir the pan he was cooking the medley of food in to serve as his dinner, when he heard rather loud voices from the next fire over._

"_I heard Duke Ganelon is using the war to raise taxes in all his territories and whisk pretty young girls to his castle. Lucky bastard."_

"_Duke Thernadier is also having people contribute their liquor as an offering to the gods. Not to mention, he has family members take up swords and kill each other to serve as an example. "_

"_And to keep them all in line, they both burns the houses of everyone that doesn't comply." _

_Tigre could already feel his blood beginning to burn at the statements, but willed himself to remain calm as he returned to Massas. "Is that all true?"_

_Massas nodded grimly. "The parties involved won't deny it. But then again, you don't get mid-kingdom a lot, so you tend to miss out on a lot of the major rumors." _

_Tigre sighed. "And the king will do nothing?"_

"_Hardly. He'll find a way to deal with them sure. And if he won't, then Prince Regnas will surely…"_

_Massas paused. Tigre blinked, unaware of what was going on, as Massas bent down to Tigre's level, and then proceeded to place his finger in Tigre's mouth._

_His bitter, steel-tasting finger. Despite his greaves being made of leather._

* * *

><p>Tigre snapped awake, and realized that he had been dreaming. Now awake, he could see that a woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail with red ribbon, dressed in a blue top and skirt not unlike the war maiden that had kidnapped him previously. However, Eleonora's face was rather child-like in its beauty. This one's face was hard, almost like Massas's was.<p>

"Are you finally awake?" she asked, removing the sword from his mouth.

"Is it morning already?" Tigre asked.

"Past noon, actually," said the woman curtly.

"And waking people up involves putting a sword in my mouth? I've never heard of such a thing."

"It's a first for me as well. For gods' sakes, though, how do you sleep so soundly, being a prisoner of war?"

"It's one of my only competent features," Tigre remarked dryly, looking over at his nearby bow and quiver. "…right, I'm in Zchted, aren't I?"

"Lady Eleonora has called for you and your compatriot from before," said the woman. "Please, follow me."

Tigre nodded, sliding out of bed. He had been sleeping in his clothes from the day before, so there was no need to take time to change. "Of course, Miss…"

"Limalisha. Though you may call me Lim, if you so choose," the woman, now known as Lim, replied, opening the door into the hall, but to her surprise, a maid came dashing in from down the hall, looking rather frazzled. "What is the meaning of this?"

"It's Almed, Lady Limalisha! He says the other one may have died or something!"

Lim quickly pulled out her sword. "Come, quickly, we must find out what happened!"

Tigre nodded, quickly following Lim out of the room. "Right!"

* * *

><p>"<em>Ray! You forgot this!"<em>

_Ray looked behind him as Kira came running after him from the direction of his room, clutching a white bottle in her hands. Ray sighed with relief, taking it off her hands and stuffing it into his jacket. "Thanks, Kira."_

"_Do you have your emergency injections?"_

"_All loaded."_

"_Did you take the last pills from the last prescription today?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And how do you feel today? Good?"_

"_Great! It's the qualifiers for the Gunpla Battle World Championship, you make it here, you make it on the world stage!" Ray said, skipping a little as he turned the corner to enter the packed event hall. There were four Gunpla Battle fields, three of them active with the current fights going on. Grinning, Ray tossed his scarf over his shoulder as his opponent came out to meet him. _

"We will now commence the fourth match of the second round: Morty Bajeena vs. Raymond Kens."

"_**Please set your GP Base. Model Damage Level set to A.**__"_

_Ray and his opponent put their GP Bases in the slot at the base of the field, the device lighting up to recognize its user._

Builder Name: Raymond Kens  
>Fighter Name: Raymond Kens<br>Scale: 1/144  
>Class: HG + Scratch<br>Model No.: GN-0000/hs-a01D + GNR-010XN  
>Name: 00 Raiser Dash<p>

_Ray placed the 00 Raiser Dash on the opening pedestal before it disappeared in a small wave of particles, grasping the control orbs as he looked out down the launch tunnels. Outside, the blue field suddenly transformed into a rainy city battle zone, its windows dark and shattered. __**"Field 07: Ruins. Battle start.**__"_

"_Morty Bajeena! Altron Suzaku Gundam, taking off!"_

"_Raymond Kens! 00 Raiser Dash, commencing operations!"_

_The 00 Raiser Dash shot forward, GN Particles flying out of the attached 0-Raiser's wings as it soared out into the rain, its eyes scanning for its target. "Altron Gundam is a melee Gunpla with some focus on medium range weapons. Its only one long range weapon is those flamethrowers he has," Ray muttered to himself. "In this weather, though, its beam weapons will lose a lot of effectiveness. So…" Ray's sensors went off, alerting him to two long claws suddenly lunging out of the gloom to grab him. "Ah, right on time!" _

_The 00 Raiser Dash raised its arms, blasting away at the claws with its GN Vulcans. One claw was struck and promptly exploded, but the other weaved around the blasts of energy and grabbed it by the body and yanked it off to one side and into a ruined building, and then pulled it out into the ground. In retaliation, the 0-Raiser detached one of the two GN Buster Sword IIIs on it, the blade falling into Ray's hand. With a roar, he swung the blade, freeing him and the claw of its Gunpla._

"_You're mine, Devil Ray!" The Altron Suzaku, now robbed of its claws, descended from the sky, armed with a beam spear. Ray reacted quickly, getting as he unleashed his GN Drives, shooting clear of the spear. Morty chased after him, swinging the beam spear again, but Ray activated the GN Claws on the Raiser Dash's feet, the weapon shooting out a beam saber that cleaved right through the weapon as it surged at him, then blasted away with the GN Vulcans again. The Altron Suzaku stumbled back, surprised by the blow, which allowed Ray to soar past him. _

_Something caught Ray's eye as he pulled out his other GN Buster Sword III. "That's strange…there's a buildup of Plavsky Particles near the center of the field…" He activated the camera, trying to see the area. Sure enough, there was a bigger concentration of the particles there, enough to obscure the area. "There it is, but I don't see anything that would cause it…"_

_The Altron Suzaku came after him again, firing away with its beam rifle over its shoulder. Ray boosted backward into the wave of Particles, hoping to hide himself. At that point, however, everything started going horribly wrong, as alarms went off around him, and his sight started to white out. A horrible ringing went through his head, and he felt close to passing out. _

"_Ray!? What's wrong?"_

"_He's having an attack!"_

"_Someone call 911! 911! 911!"_

* * *

><p>"911! 911!"<p>

Ray finally awoke, blinking owlishly as he reached around for his glasses. Whoever was shouting seemed to have stopped, and as he swung out of bed, they stepped away. Upon donning his glasses, Raymond saw that the person was a male, with black hair and skin the color of coffee, and dressed in the clothes of someone who worked in a forge, with apron coated in suit and some kind of dust. He looked away, rather embarrassed. "Sorry. But your bracelet said to call 911 in emergencies, and…well, I'd feared you'd died in your sleep."

Ray looked out the open door, noticing that Tigre, Lim, a guard, and a couple of maids were poking their heads in to watch the spectacle. He sighed, spitting in his hands and running them through his hair. "That's not what it means, but thanks anyway. Who are you?"

"I am Almed Alzari. I'm an apprentice Gunpla Builder here in the kingdom of Leitmeritz," said the man.

"Leitmeritz?"

"Yes. You arrived here as a prisoner of war alongside the Bruneman with Lady Eleonora," explained Almed.

Ray sighed, the events surrounding Tigre and Eleonora from before coming back to him. "Fantastic. So, what are you doing here, waking me up by shouting 911 all morning?"

"It's past noon."

"And your point is…?"

"Lady Eleonora has called for you. It'd be best if you made yourself presentable."

* * *

><p>In Alsace, a young maid was already discovering the situation with Tigre. "What do you mean, Lord Tigre's been captured!?"<p>

"We were ambushed in a sneak attack the night before our attack," Massas explained. Bertrand was next to him, looking rather distraught about the whole situation himself. "Tigre didn't get away in the confusion, and thus has been taken prisoner by Zchted."

"B-bu-but you outnumbered the enemy more than five to one!" the maid cried. "There's no way you could've lost, right?"

"The enemy was led by a Vanadis, one of the seven war maidens that directly serve the king," Massas explained. "As such, the king's demands a ransom for Lord Tigre to be paid within fifty days, or chances are he will be executed or sold as a slave…or worse."

"Well, how much is it? I'm sure we could pull together something if I went to the other villages and raised money, or something…" the maid began.

Massas shook his head. "It's not that simple, Titta. The demand is for three years' revenue of Alsace or something similar in value."

Titta's jaw fell open in shock.

* * *

><p>"Three times the revenue of an earldom? That's gotta be at least five to six figures!" Ray asked.<p>

"It's too high. Can't you bring it down any?" Tigre asked.

"No. I know Brune has little respect for archers, but other kingdoms will charge similar rates for archers in other kingdoms. I can't make an exception," Eleonora said. Tigre sighed, his shoulders sagging and hopes of getting back to Alsace disappearing like a summer rainbow.

"The Kingdom of Brune has fifty days to pay your ransom, starting from the day they receive our demands," Lim explained.

"If they do not pay the ransom, you will belong to me under the terms of the treaty, in the name of Radegast, god of honor and contracts," Eleonora continued. "That said…I'm afraid the agreement only pertains to you, Tigrevurmud Vorn."

"…what?" asked Ray, his voice deathly flat.

"The situation as it pertains to you, Raymond Anselm Kens," Lim said, turning to the Gunpla Fighter next to Tigre. "is very different. You see, when we brought you in, we discovered a few objects that caught our attention. Some things that normal soldiers of Brune wouldn't necessarily have on them."

"…what things?" asked Ray suspiciously.

"We're mostly referring to these." Eleonora gestured to the objects on her desk. One was a piece of black folded leather. The second was a white device with a blank screen on the front. And the last was an all-too-familiar Gunpla, now balanced on a black stand. Raymond suddenly realized what it was that had happened, and a quick search of his person revealed that they had taken his wallet, smartphone, GP Base, and the 00 Raiser Dash, probably while he'd been asleep.

"Don't act surprised. We wanted to make sure you didn't have any weapons or poison on you to kill Lady Eleonora with," Lim said curtly.

"Do I look like an assassin to you?" Ray replied with a bit more venom than he would've liked.

"Personally, I'm more interested in this Gunpla," Eleonora said, poking at the plastic model with a finger. "I certainly don't claim to be an expert on design, but the quality of construction is really well-done."

"Indeed it is, milady," Almed nodded. "I don't know what materials went into it, but it certainly has the quality one would expect of a Gunpla Meijin."

"M-Meijin?" Ray repeated. It was a name he'd heard before. A name that synonymized with excellence in Gunpla and Gunpla Battle. Images of the Third Meijin's famous battles at the Seventh Gunpla Battle World Championship came to mind.

"Oh? Look at him blush, he's so humble…" Eleonora chuckled.

"You must understand, milady, where I come from, no one throws around the word 'Meijin' lightly," Ray explained. "Especially where Gunpla is concerned."

"You mean this place I see mentioned in this?" Eleonora asked, holding up his wallet. "This place called 'Manitoba?'"

"…sure, let's go with that," Ray said.

"Which is quite possibly an elaborate lie," Lim said bluntly. "There are no territories in Brune named Manitoba, and there is no country called Manitoba that exists."

"Of course not," Ray mumbled sarcastically.

"So you admit it!" Lim said, suddenly reaching for her sword.

"It's called sarcasm! Do they not have it here!?" Ray snapped back, but Tigre quickly gripped his shoulder and shook his head at him, telling the Gunpla Fighter to disengage now while he still had his head. Ray proceeded to take a couple of breaths to settle himself down.

"Well, regardless of the situation, you, given that you do not belong to Brune or anywhere else that we know of, belong to me regardless. And after seeing your Gunpla, I'm now convinced to name you as Leitmeritz's official Gunpla Meijin," said Eleonora happily, unaware, or simply uncaring, of Lim and Ray nearly trading blows. "After all, it'd be such a shame to have someone as skilled as you be executed as a prisoner of war just for being with the Earl here…"

Almed cleared his throat pointedly. "Begging your pardon, milady, but I think more than a few Builders might be a little…angry, that you're giving the title of Meijin away so freely, and to a foreigner…"

"Well, if they think their skills can match that of Meijin Kens here, they're welcome to try," Eleonora said with a confident grin. Ray could almost describe it as shark-like.

Tigre cleared his throat. "So is there another reason why you wanted to bring me here? Other than to stick a sword in my mouth and tell me you're overselling me for ransom?"

Lim growled, not liking Tigre's tone, but Eleonora merely smiled. "No, actually. There's something else I would like from you."

* * *

><p>Tigre exhaled, and let fly. The arrow sailed high into the air and into the hedges over the wall, well shy of its target. More than a few soldiers started laughing at the poor shot.<p>

"And the second shot was a total miss!"

"Are you not taking this seriously?" Lim asked, a little frustrated.

"Of course I am," Tigre replied casually.

And he was. The truth of the matter was, Tigre wasn't using the bow that he'd been using at the Battle of Dinant. Apparently Eleonora, or someone on her staff, had supplied him with a bow to showcase his skill, but it was also clear from the bow's poor quality, based on the fraying grip, warped material of the bow, and a bowstring that was starting lose tension, that it was a move strictly for the sake of handicapping him.

Tigre looked over at Elen, seated off to the side of the range. If she was worried about her choice to rescue him and Ray, she didn't look like it. In fact, she had the kind of expectant look a child would have, a small half-smile on her lips. Tigre took another arrow out of his quiver, testing the bowstring with a quick tug.

"Oh look! He's gonna try again!"

"Why'd the war maiden rescue this chump?"

"Is he really going to embarrass himself further?"

"Hey now, he's still got two arrows left! Anybody thinking he's not up to the task better put their money where their mouth is!" Ray called to the crowd.

"It's alright, Ray," Tigre said to the new Meijin. "I'm accustomed to this bow now."

As he looked up to sight his target again, something much more important caught his eye. Someone in a dark cloak was up on the battlements, taking a position that oversaw the entire range. And from the trajectory of the shot, there was only one person Tigre could see in his sights.

"Get down!" shouted Tigre, mostly at Eleonora.

Ray looked around and spotted the same person, taking aim with an arbalest. "Assassin on the ramparts! Take cover!"

The assassin fired, a bolt zipping through the air. A few people started running for cover. Others couldn't see the assassin and couldn't react. As for Elen, she didn't move. She didn't even blink. She merely spoke a word.

"Alifar."

Eleonora's longsword suddenly reacted, the handle now sprouting wing-like hilt. And not even three feet from her head, a raging gust of wind suddenly appeared, catching the bolt before it found its mark. And an instant later, the bolt, now damaged to the point of uselessness, fell at her feet. The assassin, realizing his target was not dead and people had given away his position, began beating a hasty retreat.

"Seize him!" Lim called.

"Can you take him alive?" Tigre asked.

Lim rounded on Tigre. "You're in no position to be making those demands!"

"Alright. I'll hit his foot."

Ray blinked, watching Tigre notch the arrow and aim it upward. "…uh, Tigre, you sure you're accustomed to using that sorry excuse of a bow?"

"Positive." Tigre let fly. The arrow arced beautifully through the air, clearing the ramparts and coming down out of sight. A second later, there was the sound of a man's scream. Needless to say, his detractors were shocked.

"That's impossible! He made a shot with that crude bow!?"

"That's almost 300 alsins! Maybe even more, when you add in the height of the tower and ramparts!"

Ray licked the tip of his finger, holding it up.

Another quarter-mile shot.

With a crappy bow.

Barely any target to shoot at.

Shooting into the wind.

And he still made a shot that even Lockon Stratos in his prime couldn't have made.

Tigre, satisfied, turned to Eleonora. "Will that suffice? Or do you want me to take that fourth shot?"

"No, that will be all," Eleonora smiled, a light breeze crossing the range. "Well done, Tigrevurmud Vorn."

Ray could only shake his head in wonder. "Who _is_ this guy?"

* * *

><p>With the matter of Tigre's skills settled, Almed led Ray and Tigre into the city. Leitmeritz was a fairly large city, situated to Zchted's western borders, near the coast to the north, and only a couple day's journey from the main capitol. And yet, in spite of being from a modernized time, Ray felt very much at home among the stalls and people in the marketplace. It was like being back home, except he seemed to have traveled back in time instead of being taken someplace completely different altogether.<p>

"Through here!" Almed said, leading the pair to a two-story building on the north side of town. It looked a lot like the other buildings in the area, except for the red shield with a yellow four-point star on it. Ray recognized it instantly, any Gundam fan worth his salt could. And upon stepping in, he found a large room full of people at desks, going through shelves containing books and scrolls, drawing and putting pieces together. "Welcome to the Gunpla Builder's Guild."

Ray's eyes lit up at once. "Oh hell yeah! This looks like my kinda hangout…"

Everyone in the guild suddenly stopped what they were doing, looking over at the new arrival, Ray in particular. And none of them were particularly happy, from the way they were all looking at him. One of them, a bear of a man with a barrel chest and tanned skin, came forward, dusting his hands off on his apron, one much like the one Almed was wearing when they first met. "So you are the one Lady Eleonora has named to be her new Meijin?"

"Yes…?" Ray asked, his earlier excitement starting to wither in the atmosphere of the room.

The man leaned in, observing him closely. He didn't appear to be all that impressed. "Well, he's certainly not much to look at. Hopefully he builds better than he looks."

"I could say the same thing about you, big shot," Ray grunted. Internally, he was sweating.

Almed gave a slight "ooh" at the remark, but was quickly silenced by the man with a glare. "Shut your face, sand rat. You really want to show the Vanadis made a good move naming you the best Builder and Fighter in Leitmeritz, then you're gonna have to prove it."

"Okay…?" Ray said, tilting his head. "What is it you want me to do?"

"What is it you want me to do, he says…" the man said with a chuckle. "What you have to do is build a Gunpla, and then fight me with it."

"That's it?"

"That's all. Just tell the sand rat here what parts you want, and he'll go ahead and make them for you. Your only limitation is that you can only use the parts out of one model."

"So just a stock Gunpla and whatever tricks you can do with the parts?" asked Ray. "Okay, I can handle that."

"You sound confident now, but I didn't bring up the last part. You only have until sundown to build it."

"…what?" Ray could almost feel his heart drop into his stomach as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone and checked the time. Even with just stock parts, depending on if the parts were colored or not, was either a project that could take all day or even a full weekend, depending on the complexity. In this situation, he only had about four hours, maybe even less.

"You heard me. You got maybe two and a half koku, three at most. I suggest you hop to it."

Ray could actually feel his heart rate picking up. For someone with Addison's, it was a moment he simultaneously wished he could feel all the time and yet couldn't focus on with the seemingly Heruclean task before him. After taking a moment to wipe rapidly accumulating sweat off of his face with his scarf (it was abnormally hot in the room for some strange reason), he turned to Almed. "Alright. Let's do this thing. What's your sorting system back here?"

"You don't have to do anything, just tell me what parts you want…" Almed began.

"No way, man, I want to be able to go through these things myself on my own time," Ray said, pulling Almed into the shelves, leaving only Tigre behind with the man and the other Builders. Once he was certain he was out of earshot, Ray turned to Almed. "Okay, who the hell is that guy?"

"That's Alain Modell. He's the master of the Guild chapter here in Leitmeritz," Almed explained. "If anyone has the skills to be named the Meijin of Leitmeritz, it's most likely him."

"I could guess that," Ray said, grabbing one rolled scroll off the shelf and checked the corner for a name, discovering the words _Slash ZAKU Warrior _inside. "…where do you keep your transforming units?"

Almed tilted his head. "You want to build a transforming unit? Those can be incredibly complex! You may not have enough time to complete it!"

"Not if they're small enough and transforming them isn't complex. Trust me, I know what I'm doing…." Ray said, putting the scroll back in its place. "So why is he doing this? It seems like a bit much to challenge your fellow Fighters by having them build a unit from scratch on a time limit?"

"It's basically an abridged version of the test one takes to become a proper Builder," said Almed, leading Ray through to another set of shelves. "You pass the test, you become an official Builder and Fighter in the eyes of the Guild. Of course, most people in the Guild specialize in one or the other. As the Meijin, you are supposed to be the foremost expert in both. Now, do you know what you're building?"

Ray pursed his lips, thinking back to the beast of a man that he'd met, and then gave his answer. "Find me the plans of a Murasame."

"A Murasame? You mean the next-gen mass-produced mobile suit from the Orb Union?" Almed traced his hand down the shelf, and finally stopped on one particular shelf. "Didn't peg you for specializing in both Anno Domini and Cosmic Era mobile suits."

"I don't. This is a one-time only deal," said Ray.

Almed produced a knife from his apron and sliced through the seal on the scroll, unrolling it. Ray peeked out over his shoulder, and was surprised to find a very well-drawn schematic of the Murasame. In fact, it actually appeared drawn to full scale, based on the numbers, and not the standard 1/144 scale he was used to. "Well, if that's what you want, then I've got no reason to judge. Just let me get some golem clay and I'll start preparing the parts for you."

"What? Golem clay?"

"Golem clay. It's what we make our Gunpla from." Almed led Ray to another room, one that had a massive block of some kind of bronze material on a table. Taking a small length of twine, Almed sliced through the block a couple of times, taking the bits that fell off and placed it on another nearby table, and then unrolled the Murasame scroll. Ray, curious about the golem clay, produced a miniature prod-like device from his builder's kit, about the size of a miniature screwdriver, and touched it with the tip. He was rewarded with a slight crackling noise. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Ray lied, putting the device away. _Incredible…this golem clay stuff reacts to Plavsky Particles no different than plastic does!_

Almed wasted no time as he cut out the middle of each block and rolled it out to construct the outer frame of a parts rack, then proceeded to use the golem clay he cut out to construct each part in the rack, cutting and molding each piece by hand. That done, he took a large spatula out of his apron and removed each of the completed racks from the scroll and laid them out on a large pan. As he headed outside through another door, Ray quickly grabbed the Murasame scroll, rolling it up for later.

Outside, to Ray's surprise, was a large oven, lit and fully heated. Almed opened the door, put the parts inside, and then closed it. "Right. That's just about the end of my job."

"...so that's all an apprentice does? Just build parts?" Ray asked.

"Usually. Apprentices don't build their own Gunpla until the third year of their apprenticeship, when they're ready to take the test themselves. I'm still in the second year of mine."

"How long do we have to wait?"

"Half a koku, maybe."

"…so what do we do in the meantime?"

"We wait. Most apprentices take this time to eat lunch."

"Well, I didn't bring lunch."

"That's a shame...got any jokes?"

Ray groaned, massaging his temples. "This is so not worth it."

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later, Almed retrieved the golem clay parts from the oven. At first glance, they didn't appear all that different to how they went in, but there was now an almost plastic-like sheen to them. A touch with Ray's device confirmed they could still react to Plavsky Particles. "What happens now?"<p>

"Now it's ready for you to start constructing. I suggest you hurry, you've barely got a couple of hours before sundown," Almed said.

"Right!" Ray quickly collected the racks, stuffing the Murasame scroll under his arm as he took it back inside, weaving through the shelves back to the front of the room, where Tigre and Alain were waiting. As well as, to his utter surprise, Eleonora and Lim. "…um, hi?"

"Have a little respect," Lim told him.

"Relax, Lim," Eleonora waved it off. "I just want to see my new Meijin plying his trade!"

Ray looked over at Tigre, who merely shrugged. Ray was starting to become decidedly more nervous, and now he was convinced that this wasn't just to prove his skills to the master of the Guild chapter, but also to prove Eleonora's trust in him wasn't misplaced. Steeling himself, he quickly made his way over to an empty desk, pulling out his builder's kit. "Almed, I need paint and sticks."

"What colors?" asked Almed.

"White, black, red, and yellow. Maybe blue, too."

Almed disappeared back into the shelves, and came back with small glass jars containing the colors. Tigre then quickly appeared at his side, holding out a pile of small twigs from outside. "Thank you." With his pieces finally assembled, Ray pulled out his cutters and promptly went to work. Tigre, Eleonora, Lim, Almed, and Alain watched as Ray's hands went this way and that, cutting away parts, sanding them with files of certain size, and working them over with paintbrushes. Tigre could almost swear that his friend had now entered into a trance, that his mind had left his body and now he was acting purely out of instinct-

SNAP.

"Crap."

At once, the spell was broken. An arm piece that Ray had been working on had snapped in between his fingers and now lay in two pieces. Ray set down the piece, quickly checking through his kit, and then left the desk, heading back into the room with the golem clay. Already, he could hear people murmuring amongst themselves about the gaffe. Ray, despite of his lightening head, quickly swiped a small piece off the block and returned with it, then tested it again to confirm it could react with Plavsky Particles. Satisfied, he applied the golem clay around the broken edges and pressed them together. It was rather shoddy, all things considered, but with the right amount of clay in the right place, the only thing to even show there was even a break there would be a seam line, easily obscured with a file and some paint.

The rest of the construction went without incident. Tigre leaned forward from his place between Eleonora and Almed. The MVF-M11 Murasame was about the same size as Ray's 00 Raiser Dash, but was decidedly much more streamlined than the aforementioned, which was built blockier and stockier. It was white with a black body, and its leg armor and v-fin was a kind of reddish-ochre color. The only visible weapon it had was the beam rifle in its right arm, the one that had been broken. Ray stepped away from the desk, wiping his brow with his scarf. "There. One completed Murasame."

The apprentices crowded around the desk, looking at the completed Murasame.

"This is the skill of a Meijin?"

"…well, he did have Almed making his parts. All things considered, it's really well done."

"I thought he broke something. Did he break something?"

"I don't know. It's hard to tell."

Eleonora also came forward, looking at the finished Murasame, a look of interest on her face as she placed a finger on her lips, that expectant half-smile on her face once more. However, Alain came forward, looking at the Murasame with a critical eye, and then scoffed. "Well, I will say it definitely has good quality as far as construction goes. But, construction is only half the battle when it comes to being the Meijin. You've proven you can build, but can you also fight?"

"I like to think so," Ray said, wishing it wasn't so hot. And he really needed something salty.

"Well then! Let's move onto the fighting! Someone get the _Meijin_ here a Manifestation Device!" said Alain, spitting out the title like a rotted tooth.

"Actually, I think I already got one," Ray said, pulling back the sleeve on his jacket to reveal the watch-like object attached to his arm.

"Well then! Let's take this fight outside! And let's be quick, we want to have this done before nightfall!" Alain said.

* * *

><p>Alain led the way for the apprentices, Ray, Tigre, Eleonora, and Lim out of the city proper and out north to a large field, surrounded by flowers and trees. It almost reminded him of one of the fields in a Gunpla Battle system, except it was noon on the field and currently it was nearing dusk. A couple of the apprentices laid out a larger version of the so-called Manifestation Device in the center of the group, while Alain moved away from the group toward the center of the field. "Come on, Meijin! We ain't got all day!"<p>

Ray looked over at Tigre and Eleonora for a moment before leaving the group, wiping his sweating brow with his scarf. He could feel his head starting to become lighter, so he crouched and put his head between his knees, hoping to ward the nausea off. Tigre, sensing his ally's distress, quickly left Eleonora's side. "Ray? Are you well?"

"I'm fine…I think," Ray groaned. He hauled himself upright, then rubbed at his eyes. "Got anything salty on you?"

"…just some salted jerky. It's a couple of days old," Tigre held out a strip of meat to him, and Ray promptly took it and started eating. Looking to the expectant Eleonora, Lim, Almed, then to Alain, he then whispered in Ray's ear, "You sure you're well?"

"Yeah, it's just my Addison's acting up," Ray replied. Stuffing the rest of the jerky into his mouth, he proceeded to pull a capped syringe from inside his jacket. "On that note, listen carefully. If you see me starting to get sick and you have no idea why, I need you to take one of these and inject it right here," Ray gestured at the top of his thigh, marking the muscle there.

"What? Why?" asked Tigre, looking at the object as Ray pressed it into his hands.

"Heave, ho! Get to your position already!" Alain called.

"One of these days, it could mean the difference saving my life or killing me. This is just for precaution's sake." Ray clapped Tigre on the shoulder, then made his way to a place roughly the opposite from Alain. "Okay, okay, quit your whining, I just needed something done first!"

Alain produced a large black Gunpla of some sort as he attached a large armband to his upper arm. "Let's see if that Murasame unit of yours is any good! Blaze ZAKU Kodiak, Manifest!" Raising his arm up and behind his back, a crystalline orb, much like the one on Ray's device, began to shine with light, unleashing a pillar of bright blue particles around him. Alain leaped upwards into the pillar as a wave of particles obscured him, and from the same pillar emerged a black Blaze ZAKU Phantom, a claw weapon hanging over its visible forearm and a large backpack carrying what appeared to be a pair of missile launchers.

"What unit is that?" Tigre asked Almed as he made his way back.

"That's the master's own personal Gunpla. He calls it the Blaze ZAKU Kodiak," Almed explained. "It's a heavy mobile suit designed for mid-range combat. On the other hand, Ray's mobile suit is the Murasame. It's a lighter mobile suit that's best suited for mid-range combat as well. It also has a mobile armor form it can switch to for better speed and mobility."

Ray touched the watch-like device, watching the orb light up to unleash its own pillar of particles. Ray raised his arm, jumping into the air as Alain did. "Murasame, Manifest!" As he did, the Murasame in his hand suddenly lifted off, a cloud of particles forming around it as it grew to full size, drawing Ray into its chest. The now life-sized Murasame came down to land across from the Blaze ZAKU Kodiak, pulling out its beam rifle.

The inside of the Murasame was something else. Ray was now standing in the middle of an empty room, surrounded by the images of the countryside around them. Instead of the usual yellow orbs that Ray was used to using for piloting his Gunpla, he was now wearing a pair of gloves, and clutched in one of those gloves was an image of the beam rifle. It was very much like the cockpits in G Gundam.

Almed, meanwhile, quickly activated the device the other apprentices had brought, and a large transparent bubble made of particles quickly formed around them. "And with that…battle start!"

Ray immediately took off at the Kodiak, blasting away with the beam rifle. The Kodiak raised its shield to absorb the attack, then reached into the shield to pull out a heat axe from its place inside, and swung upward with the weapon, cleaving the beam rifle in half. Swearing, Ray boosted backward, the rifle exploding. A few pieces of the rifle struck the bubble surrounding the group, causing everyone except Lim and Elen to take cover as it bounced off the shield and hit the ground a few feet away. "Already lost your main weapon! Not exactly the best situation for you, boy!"

Ray responded by extending the Murasame's wings, showering the ZAKU Kodiak in vulcan fire. Alain raised his shield, bullets ringing off the shield, and Ray dashed in, pulling out the Murasame's beam saber and slashing through the shield. "I like to think my plan's working at peak efficiency!" Alain dropped the destroyed shield and swung his heat axe, but Ray shot backwards, still shooting away with his vulcans. The bullets rang off the ZAKU Kodiak's armor as it deployed its claws. Rather than go sideways, Ray jumped high, boosting into the air as his armor folded into himself, transforming into its fighter jet-esque mobile armor form, and then shot into the air.

"You won't get away from me, Meijin!" Alain shouted. The backpack part shot open, unleashing a hail of missiles at Ray. Ray quickly peeled hard down to the left, skimming the ground as the missiles arced around and struck the ground behind him.

"I'm not going anywhere, pal!" Ray opened fire with his own missiles. Alain crossed his arms to absorb the missile blasts. As he transformed back to his mobile suit form, though, one of the Murasame's wings clipped the ground, sending Ray tumbling through the air to collide with the Blaze ZAKU Kodiak. Both mechs went to the ground with a massive, earth-shaking thud.

"Ray!" Tigre cried out.

"Well…I've officially seen everything," Almed said. "You'd think the Meijin would have better control with his Gunpla." Tigre almost agreed, but then he remembered Ray's condition prior to starting, and soon he felt dread seep into him, worried for his mysterious friend.

"Okay…that didn't go according to plan." The Murasame boosted upward to right itself, but as it tried to get away, suddenly the Blaze ZAKU Kodiak reached out, its claws grabbing one of the Murasame's folded wings and ripped it off. "What the-!?"

"Got you now, boy!" Alain pulled his ZAKU's beam rifle out even before the heat claws had even finished cooling, blasting Ray again and again. Ray extended his other wing, showering him in more vulcan fire, but Alain pulled out his other shield, blocking the bullets as he boosted forward, and used his claws to rip out the other wing. Ray quickly jumped backward to gain some distance, with Alain not far behind him, armed with the rifle and his heat axe.

_Well, this is going great…_ Ray groaned in his head. Already he was exhausted, and he could feel his body burning in the places he'd been shot by Alain's rifle, and his stomach was starting to churn uncomfortably. He chanced a look down at his hand, and already it was shaking in its glove. _That's not good…I knew this was going to happen, but I thought I took my pills today! I need to finish this battle _now!

Alain fired his rifle again. Ray boosted to the side, dodging the green blast, firing with his head vulcans to ward him off. _What does this Kodiak thing have? Beam rifle, a shield, a heat axe, and what looks like claws modified for heat, probably taken from an ASH…and if this control scheme is the same for Alain as it is for me, then…_

Ray quickly reached for his beam saber, but didn't activate it. Alain tried a quick shot, but Ray spun on his foot, dodging the blow, then quickly took off headlong at his opponent with a shout. Alain tried to raise his rifle for a point-blank shot, but Ray quickly trapped the beam rifle in the crook of the Murasame's arm, and then looked down at the axe, blasting away with his head vulcans. The bullets ripped through the axehead and blew it apart, the two of them separating as it was destroyed.

"Bastard! This will finish you!" Alain roared, charging him with his claws. With barely time to react, Ray twisted the Murasame's body and raised his right arm to block, tossing his inactive beam saber into the air.

…

…

Tigre had turned away at the last second, unable to watch what would no doubt come after, but was surprised (as was everyone else) that, somehow, the Murasame remained. What's more, the Slash ZAKU's claw seemed to have gotten stuck halfway through cleaving the arm part, and Alain wasn't able to pull it out. "What the…what the hell is this!? I told you you weren't allowed to use any parts that weren't standard!"

"You're right. And I didn't. But, I had an idea about that golem clay Almed showed me, and it looks like it went just as I thought it would!" Ray countered.

"Golem clay?" Tigre asked.

"…of course!" Almed's eyes lit up, realizing what had transpired. "We all heard him break a piece while constructing it, so he must have used golem clay to patch it up! And because it wasn't put in the oven, it wasn't hard like the rest of the Gunpla! But, when you combine that with the extreme heat of the Slash ZAKU Kodiak's claws…"

"The clay immediately hardened around the claw's edge, trapping it in Ray's arm piece!" Tigre finished.

"To think he was able to disguise such an amateur mistake as well as he did, and then turn it into a trap during a battle…" Lim said. As much as she didn't trust Tigre or Ray, it was becoming a lot harder to ignore their skills in their respective fields.

Alain gave another fruitless tug, then pulled out his beam rifle. "Don't get cocky-!"

"Purging arm!" There was a blast of steam and a spark of electricity, and the damaged arm separated from the Murasame's body. Now free of Alain's claws, Ray ducked under the point-blank shot, reaching up to grab his beam saber as it came back down to earth with his remaining hand, which activated in a blaze of pink light, and proceeded to swing it.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

The Slash ZAKU Kodiak, or more accurately, its head, arm, and body went flying in three separate directions as Ray leapt clear from the resultant explosion, the yellow eyes of the Murasame blazing in the shadows it cast. The assembled Builders and Fighters gave a shout of surprise, amazed that Ray had defeated their master, but they gave way to cheers of appreciation for a well-fought battle.

"Battle ended!" Almed called. "Your winner…Meijin Raymond Kens-huh?" The statement of pride fell off into confusion when he saw the Murasame go to one knee, and then vanish into particles, revealing a pained Ray, falling to the ground and curling into a ball.

"Ray!" Tigre quickly dashed over, touching his hand to Ray's forehead. "Gods, you're burning up…!" Tigre's mind raced, trying to think about what to do. "…wait. Is this the situation you warned me would happen?"

Ray nodded.

"So do you need me to do what you asked me to?"

Another nod.

"Right!" Tigre quickly reached into his jerkin, pulling out the syringe and removing the cap.

"What's going on?" Lim asked, coming over with Eleonora and Almed. "Has the Meijin fallen ill?"

"Yes. And hopefully this will help!" Tigre said, quickly taking Ray's jacket off to expose his arms. After taking a moment to seek out the place Ray had indicated to him, and then slid it in through his skin. There was a slight hiss, and the medicine quickly went down into Ray's body.


	2. The Meijin's Guide to Leitmeritz

**Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter of Meijin to Ou to Vanadis! Sorry for being so atypically silent, I usually don't have time to address the readers. Anyway, let's figure out what's going on in Leitmeritz of late!**

**HQ UPDATE: I was told by sources that Ray's explanation about Addison's Disease was in error. I have taken the time to correct the mistake.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter Two: The Meijin's Guide to Leitmeritz<strong>

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday!" Eleonora said, bowing deeply before Tigre.

Tigre blinked, wondering what was going on. He looked over at Lim, Ray and Almed, all of whom were standing behind him.

"She's talking about the bow incident," Ray explained, tapping his palm with a finger to illustrate.

"I didn't think you'd be given such a crude bow for your demonstration," Eleonora added. "There were three men responsible for it, and I've ordered for their execution today at noon-"

"Whoa, hold on!" Tigre cut in, waving his hands. "We don't need to go _that_ far just for the sake of three men and a bad bow!"

"Seriously?" Ray asked him. "Dude, could you imagine if someone did that to me? Giving me a crap Gunpla when I'm supposed to be showing off my skills as the Meijin? Tigre, I know there's such a thing as turning the other cheek, but these guys wanted to make you look like a complete tool!"

"Exactly!" Eleonora nodded. "These men tried to bring dishonor and humiliation to you. Shouldn't they pay for that with their lives?"

Tigre took a couple of steps forward, and then bowed before Eleonora. "Could you forgive them this once?"

Eleonora considered it. "Okay. I'll make sure it doesn't happen twice." As she said it, though, Tigre happened to catch a sight of Elen's breasts bouncing in his face, and promptly retreated, his cheeks a dusty pink.

"Right, so why would you have us do that?" asked Tigre, trying to change the subject. "Have me and Ray demonstrate our skills, I mean."

Eleonora giggled, that shark-like smile on her face. Lim pointedly cleared her throat. "Well, the thing is…it was her idea, because…" Lim looked away, wondering if she should finish the statement. "…it's because she has fallen in love with you."

"What!? A war maiden? Falling in love?" Tigre asked in surprise.

"And at first sight?" added Ray.

"Indeed!" Eleonora nodded. "Call it love borne from two enemies, or love on the battlefield, take your pick."

"At the risk of sounding cliché," Ray folded his arms. "Doesn't this only happen in really trashy romance novels? …not that I don't like trashy romance novels, I'm just…this doesn't just _happen_, you know?"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Meijin Kens, but I'm referring to his skill with the bow and yours as a Meijin," Eleonora explained. "Unfortunately, that's the kind of gossip that flies around. So to nip these rumors at the bud, they'd rather I killed you both."

"Not a completely wrong idea, if you ask me," Lim cut in. Ray gave Lim a dull glare at the statement, and stood a little closer to Almed.

"At the same time, there's also the fact that you both entertained me for your trouble," Eleonora quickly took a seat on top of her desk. It should be noted here that Elen was wearing a short dark purple and white skirt and a matching top with bared midriff, all of it trimmed in dark yellow, and the skirt was cut very high at the sides to expose her legs, so she was allowing Ray and Tigre a good look at her. "That's largely the reason why I took you prisoner to begin with."

"…I don't follow," Ray said, raising his hand.

"The Battle of Dinant, which apparently you missed out," Eleonora explained. "We were outnumbered five to one. I was aware it would be a dangerous battle, and I had constructed several battle plans. As it stood, the battle should lasted at least half of the night, maybe until daybreak."

"And?"

"My first plan was an attack just before midnight. And wouldn't you know it, that first plan was the only one I needed! They completely collapsed under my charge and were routed almost within two koku!" Eleonora said irritably. "Even though I sent scouts ahead of time, we charged, broke the rearguard, and split the Brune forces. We even killed the Brune prince."

"Prince Regnas!?" Tigre asked suddenly. He hadn't known that Prince Regnas had fallen during the battle.

Eleonora halted, looking at Tigre. "Were you close?"

Tigre shook his head. "I only ever met him once."

"And? Do you hold it against me?"

"It happened on the battlefield. I myself killed some Zchted soldiers, so I'm hardly one to judge." Ray gave a loud fake cough before pointedly showing Tigre the Manifestation Device on his arm. "…so if the prince is dead, that also explains how you got the Manifestation Device. Did you also retrieve his Gunpla?"

Ray nodded, digging into his jacket pocket. He produced the broken pieces of the custom Hyaku Shiki Kai and held them out to Tigre. "From what I saw, he never had a chance to get it out. A lot of this damage is probably from it being trampled."

Tigre took the pieces, the look on his face almost reverent. For a long time, no one spoke. Then, Tigre asked a question, his voice low and glib. "Can it be repaired?"

Ray shook his head. "Not without seeing what the plans are. But I figured I'd take it anyway, because I thought it would mean something to somebody. Hopefully it does to you?"

"If I ever get a chance to return home to Alsace, I'll have a messenger send this to King Faron. Hopefully it will bring the King a sense of peace," Tigre returned the pieces to Ray. "Until then, can I trust you to hold on to them?"

Ray nodded again, returning the pieces to his jacket. "Of course."

"As Lady Eleonora was saying," Lim said rather loudly, interrupting their conversation.

Eleonora gave Lim a look for a moment, but then carried on with her narrative. "Once the prince died, their morale completely disappeared and they routed. My soldiers and I attacked from behind and charged in, turning it into an every-man-for-himself stampede. I was so disappointed from how anticlimactic it had turned out, but then along came you and Meijin Kens!" She leapt off her desk, Ray and Tigre both turning pink at the flash of skin from such a high-cut skirt, and quickly took them both in her hands. "You tried to bring me down with such calm, such certainty, why, killing you would be an almost unforgiveable crime! That's why I brought you and Meijin Kens to Leitmeritz and…" she paused, looking past the Meijin and the archer to Lim. "Oh? Are you still smarting over what happened at Dinant, Lim?"

Lim closed her eyes, trying to betray a neutral expression. "That's got nothing to do with it." Tigre and Ray shared a look.

"You didn't know?" Eleonora said to Tigre, that childish grin on her face yet again. "Lim was the rider of that first horse you shot."

Ray blinked, trying to remember Tigre shooting his bow back on the plains. There had been two people he shot before going after Eleonora, but they were too far away to make out. Tigre, however, looked at Lim in surprise. "What? You?"

"Limalisha," Lim bowed slightly in greeting. "Please, allow me to offer my salutations anew, Count Tigrevurmud Vorn."

"Uh…right…" said Tigre, shooting another look at Ray. Ray shrugged at him, as if asking him what he would gain looking at him in this situation.

"On that note…I've never expected a Bruneman to have such a long name," Eleonora added. "Where'd it come from?"

"It's the name of my ancestor," explained Tigre. "Though, if it's too long for you, please, call me Tigre."

"Of course! In that case, please call me Ellen! I also think-"

"Lady Eleonora!"

Ellen stopped at Lim's sharp interjection. Ray tilted his head, wondering for a moment if Ellen had forgotten herself in that moment, and they had seen the kind of person she truly was. In Ray's opinion, it gave her a kind of cuteness he couldn't quite identify. Then, Ellen spoke again. "Would you serve under me? I will give you the same authority as a count that you did in Brune, and I wouldn't treat you any different surrounding your valor."

Tigre smiled, but it was almost sad. "I must decline. I appreciate your offer, though. It's something no one gets offered in the Kingdom of Brune."

"So why do you refuse my hand?" asked Ellen.

"I already have a place I must protect," Tigre explained, his eyes glimmering with nostalgia.

"Alsace?" Ray asked, remembering the place Tigre mentioned when they introduced themselves.

"Alsace. It's the territory my father had, and I inherited it from him," Tigre nodded.

Ellen returned Tigre's smile, although it was tinged with the sight of being troubled. "You have admirable spirit, but you won't consider your own future? Once the deadline for your ransom is met, I could sell you as a slave to a merchant from Mouzinel."

Tigre's expression changed, clearly not liking the sound of that. Ray turned to Lim and Almed. "Mouzinel? What's that?"

"A kingdom to the south, older than Brune and Zchted, and they trade a fair deal in slavery," explained Almed. "Typically, a prisoner of war will be sold to Mouzinel if the deadline is not met."

Ray winced. "Sounds delightful."

Finally, Tigre spoke. "…if the deadline is reached, then what you do with me is up to you."

Ellen tilted her head, silver-white hair falling across her face. "That's interesting. Yesterday you demanded to lower the ransom on your head, and now you're willing to still live your life as a prisoner of war? I'm surprised."

"I can't just lower my head and look for a way to escape, can't I?"

"Actually, if I can just cut in here…" Ray quickly came over to Tigre and Elen. "Maybe we could come to a compromise or something?"

"Meijin Kens, this is strictly between…" Lim began.

"It's alright, Lim, I'll hear it," Ellen raised her hand. "What do you suggest, Meijin Kens?"

"Well, if anything, Tigre's skill with the bow clearly has few rivals. Surely you and Lim and Almed would agree?"

"…that is certainly true," said Ellen.

"Amen," Almed gave an appreciative nod.

Lim said nothing, just gave an affirmative grunt.

"Well, it's clear that your archers would benefit from having him as a teacher. Maybe as long as he's a prisoner of war, you could keep him as a teacher? It's not like he'll be doing much of anything else, and with the issue of our pranksters settled, there shouldn't be a problem getting the guys to listen to him."

Ellen nodded, mulling Ray's suggestion over. "Very well. It definitely would be troublesome if you got sick from being in your room all day long. So I'll give you freedom to move about in public, assuming you have a chaperon. If you approach the palace ramparts on your own, though, I'll take it as an attempt to escape and have you shot on sight. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Tigre nodded.

"Good. That will be all. You may return to your room."

Tigre nodded, and left the office. Ray turned to Ellen. "You know, on the basis of names, you know you don't have to call me Meijin Kens all the time, right? It's too stuffy for my liking, and…"

"Impossible," Lim said bluntly. "You have been named Lady Eleonora's Meijin, her foremost advisor in the ways of Gunpla. It is a title you have been given, and we expect you to bear it with pride."

"Dammit!"

* * *

><p>The weeks that followed were actually a lot easier, as time went on.<p>

Not many people were open to the idea of Tigre teaching them, at first, even after demonstrating his skill. However, one of the parties responsible for the bow fiasco, a noble by the name of Rurick, was more than happy to take Tigre's lessons to heart, mostly due to the fact that he did spare his life. Of course, he was still forced to sacrifice something for his crime, so now he was bald as an egg, and now people were starting to like him a bit more, albeit slowly.

Ray, however, was a bit more well-received. After defeating Alain in one-on-one combat, most questions of whether Ray had the chops to be the Meijin of Leitmeritz were answered. The problem with him, however, was largely the opposite of Tigre's: people were swarming and challenging him not out of wanting the title of Meijin, but to learn his ways and skills. Ray had little time for meeting with Tigre when he was getting challenged in droves by many of the local apprentices, using stock Gunpla to master their skills.

One day, Ray was on his way back to the castle to take lunch when he saw Ellen, Lim, and Tigre out near the courtyard.

"Okay, Tigre. Today I want to see your other weapons skills," Ellen was saying.

"You do understand I'm only good with the bow, right?" asked Tigre. "Therefore-"

"That's truly wonderful," Ellen interrupted, her tone almost that of someone describing a lover. "And be proud of your skill with the bow. But think of today as your opportunity to branch out. That said, I would still want you, even if all you could ever do was shoot with a bow…"

"Right. Let's begin," Lim said curtly, interrupting her. Both Tigre and Ellen shared a look, and Ray, now curious, made his way over to them.

"Lim, couldn't you be a bit more…" Ellen began.

"Lady Eleonora, despite being of much knowledge to our knowledge, he is still technically a prisoner of war."

"…fine, fine," Ellen said dismissively. "Tigre, go ahead and take a weapon off the rack to fight me with."

Tigre went over to a nearby castle wall, which held a number of weapons, and eventually returned with a couple of spears, one of which he tossed to Ellen. With that, Ellen immediately lunged at Tigre with the spear, the red-head awkwardly parrying the blow away. Tigre lunged in turn, but as he continued to lash out at his savior/gatekeeper, it was abundantly clear Ellen had the upper hand. That, or Tigre was right about him only really being good at the bow.

"Come on, come on, don't be so wishy-washy! Put your back into it!" Ellen taunted, spinning her lance in her hand to deflect a flurry of blows from Tigre. As she said that, she immediately disengaged, her lance point down towards the ground.

_Ellen is letting her guard down? _Ray asked himself as he looked over at Tigre. _…no, she's just baiting him. She wants to see what he'll do if he thinks he won't be guarded against._

Tigre's response was to shout and lunge at her like the tiger that (more or less) bore his namesake. Ellen, of course, pulled off some kind of skirmishing move, blocking the attack with the haft and then twisting the spear out of Tigre's hands, and at the same time sending Tigre to the ground in a heap.

Ray could only nod in satisfaction of the mock duel's end. "Flawless victory."

But then, Tigre suddenly sprang to his feet with another shout, and then flung himself headlong at Ellen, catching the war maiden by surprise in what probably would've been a good tackle worthy of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. "There! How's that!?"

"Huh…? How's…that?"

Tigre blinked at the strangely higher-pitched question from Ellen, wondering if he'd disoriented or injured her by mistake. However, upon looking down, he saw the true reason: in his attempt to pin Ellen to the ground, he now had a handful of Ellen's breast. To his credit, Tigre reacted quickly, throwing himself off of Ellen, his face already going bright red.

"Wow, Tigre, I know I said put your back into it, but I didn't expect you to go _that_ far…" Ellen said, trying to keep up a good expression as she dusted herself off, unaware of Lim looking particularly furious or even Ray bursting out laughing nearby.

"I didn't…no, seriously, it was a mistake…"

"You are already dead." Like a bolt of lightning, Lim came hurtling in, cracking her sheathed sword over the top of Tigre's head. Tigre immediately went back onto the ground, clutching his head in agony as Lim drew her sword, her eyes full of vengeance. "Lady Eleonora, please command me to take this man's head!"

"Don't be like that, Lim, I was the one who goaded him," Ellen said, trying to calm her down. "I wasn't taking the fight seriously."

"Even so! A fight does not consist of rubbing the opponent's chest!" Lim countered.

Ellen opened her mouth, then closed it again, considering Lim's words a moment. "…well, you are technically correct there. But don't take it out on him. If your frustration goes any further, it'll make a mockery of both of us."

"If that is what my lady commands," Lim sighed, sheathing her sword.

Ray took that as an opportunity to make his way over and hold out a hand to Tigre. "Can you stand, buddy?"

"I think so," Tigre took the hand, and Ray hoisted him back upright. "Ugh…I think she broke something in my head…"

"Bear with it. I did not strike you out of malice," Lim said bluntly.

"Liar. There was enough bloodthirst in that blow to feed the Cullen family for weeks," Ray scoffed.

"I could not help that."

* * *

><p>"Better make this quick...if Tigre gets to the well first, he's gonna take for-friggin'-ever..." Ray followed a small canal through the courtyard. He was in dire need of a bath, having survived another five-man iron man gauntlet as part of training the apprentices. It'd be a while before the golem clay would repair the damage his Murasame had survived, and Ray wanted to be fresh before his next fight. As he started to round the corner, he noticed there was something near the well: a small bright blue-green dragon with blue eyes, about the size of a small dog. It looked in Raymond's direction and gave an introductory chirping noise.<p>

"Oh my God, you're adorable!" Ray said, slowly coming forward to avoid scaring off the little thing. "I didn't think there were dragons here in Leitmeritz!"

"That's Lunie. She's the dragon I keep around."

Ray looked up at the sound of Elen's voice, and was promptly greeted by the sight of Ellen, stark naked, next to the well, with only the bucket she'd been using to wash herself and and a couple of locks of hair across her breasts to keep her modest. The towel in Raymond's hand fell out of his nerveless fingers, and the only thing that broke the silence between them was the sound of Lunie jumping into the air, and then flopping into the stream for a swim.

"Hi," Ellen said casually.

And then Ray's brain caught up with his eyes, and quickly spun on his heel, turning away. "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't think anybody else knew about this place! I'm just gonna slowly walk away and pretend I didn't see anything...!"

"There's nothing to apologize about," Ellen said. She may very well have been talking about the weather, all things considered, even as she doused herself in water again. "You wanted to wash your body, right? Then come over, I won't bite."

"You won't, but somebody else will if she finds out!" Ray said.

"Relax. If Lim was around me all the time, it'd be rather stifling," Ellen said. "And I have Alifar here next to me, so it's not like I'm completely helpless here. Now stop talking and turn around."

Most other males of Ray's age would kill to be in his position. Ray, however, was still having images of Lim bringing her sheathed sword down on Tigre's head and practically begging for an execution order. "So...is there a Zchted thing where people bathe co-ed? Or am I missing something here?"

"You're misinterpreting the situation, Meijin Kens," said Ellen. "It's not that I'm not embarrassed. But I am a war maiden, after all. Even if I'm surprised, caught naked, and get embarrassed to the point of having my breath taken away, I can't just go cowering away like some modest maiden."

"...fair enough," Ray admitted.

Another splash of water. The level of eroticism this situation had was becoming astronomical. "...tell me about this Addison's Disease."

"I guess Tigre explained the situation when I was resting off my mini-crisis?" asked Ray with a sigh.

Elen giggled. It was the only reply he needed.

"Well, I'll try to be simple with it. Basically, Addison's Disease means that my body doesn't produce a certain kind of chemical, a chemical that my body needs in order to be...healthy, is the best way I'd put it. So what ends up happening is I have low blood pressure, I'm fairly anemic, and I get aches in my joints and muscles, just to name a few of the happy things that go on. There's also this nice little bit." Raymond removed one of his gloves, showing Elen one of his hands. The Vanadis stared, noticing that Ray's hand seemed to have a mottled look, parts of skin darker than the rest. "The doctor calls it hyperpigmentation. Basically, my skin is darker in some places even if the sun doesn't hit it."

"...is there a cure?" Elen seemed oddly humbled.

"No cure, but it is treatable," said Ray. "There is some medicine I take to fill in the void, but I only have so much. Which is important that you know how to take care of me, if you're going to take me in as your Meijin. If you see me get really sick and you don't know why, what you need to do is inject this in my body." Ray pulled out a capped syringe from inside his jacket. "You saw Tigre do it after my fight with Alain, he can explain more."

"Okay. You can turn around now." Ray turned around, and he found Elen was clothed, finally, in a short white robe with the sheathed Alifar in her sash, and her hair tied up to allow it to dry properly. "Thanks for the explanation. I'll be on the lookout for those things. But if you're going to bathe, you'd best do it quickly. This is a place mostly favored by women."

"It's alright, I just want to get the grime off me. Shouldn't be long," said Ray as Elen left with Lunie, removing his aviator's jacket and scarf. However, by the time he'd removed his pants, he heard someone approaching. "What's up? Did you forget someth-" The words died on his lips when he saw Lim there, in a short robe of her own and carrying her own bucket. Add that to the fact that he...hadn't completely gotten over seeing Elen naked, and things were now very awkward.

"...um, I can explain?"

He never did. Lim screamed and threw her bucket at Ray's head, knocking him over, then ran off.

* * *

><p>The next couple of days didn't go that much easier for Ray or Tigre. Or Ellen, for that matter.<p>

"I am very angry with all of you," Lim growled, her back turned to the three of them.

"We can see that," Ray snarked, although that may not have been the wisest thing to say in this situation.

"Do you even know why I am mad?"

"Don't get so worked up," Ellen said, trying to settle her seneschal down. "We just went on a walk, the three of us."

"In what _world _does a _prisoner _go on a walk _out of the_ _castle _with a _Vanadis and her Meijin!?_" Lim countered, smacking Ellen's desk once in a while with her fist to emphasize her words.

"Well, we got back before sunset," shrugged Ray. "That's gotta count for something…"

"Keep in mind, you are a Vanadis and the Gunpla Meijin of Leitmertiz," Lim said. "…now, Count Tigrevurmud. Would you be so kind as to give me a complete and concise summary of everything you were doing this afternoon?"

"Huh? Everything?" asked Tigre.

"If I catch you in a falsehood, death…I mean, a suitable punishment awaits you."

"Did I hear you say death?" Tigre asked.

"I thought I heard that, too," nodded Ray.

"I did not. But expect something similar."

Tigre folded his arms, trying to find the proper to piece his words without making Lim any angrier. "It's not like we did anything bad, really. First we ate some potatoes with butter."

"Those were delicious!" Ellen smiled.

"Then we had some kind of lime wine…"

"Which was pretty refreshing after spending the whole morning working," Ray commented.

"Lies! You didn't do any work at all!" Lim snapped, dropping a stack of royal and official documents at their feet, earning a wince from Ellen and Ray.

"…then there was the potato bake with mushrooms, and the salmon stir-fry, and the bread with honey and apple jam…" Tigre continued.

"You ate all that!? You can't even call that snacking anymore!"

"W-well, if I'm going to lead the people of Leitmeritz, I have to have days like those. Live like the people do for a day, you know?" Ellen offered.

Ray opened his mouth to agree, but then he noticed something: a small bit of apple jam smeared on Ellen's face. "It's hard to take you seriously if you've got apple jam on your face like that." Ray spat into the tip of scarf and rubbed it off her face. Ellen gasped, turning a little red at the gesture. "There we go. Much more Vanadis-like."

Ellen managed to recover quickly, though her face needed a little extra time. "My my, you know how to take people by surprise, Meijin Kens!"

"Well, it's an art you learn how to master as a Gunpla Fighter…" Ray replied, but Ellen also noticed that Ray, too, had a little apple jam on his face. She quickly swiped it off with a finger.

"Well, it appears you also have a little apple jam on your face as well, Meijin Kens!" Ellen said, smirking as the Canadian Meijin went a little red at the touch. "Now who can't be taken seriously?"

"…you three seem to be getting along quite well," Lim's voice, dark and dripping with contempt, cut in on the exchange. "Count Tigrevurmud, Meijin Kens, it appears you don't know your place…"

"Come on, it's not that big of a deal!" Ellen said, quickly pulling out something wrapped in a bag.

"Lady Eleonora, I insist-!"

"Maybe this will change your mind?" Ellen unwrapped the bag, revealing a teddy bear, and tossed it Lim. "Here, a gift from us!"

Lim caught it, and the change was almost immediate, her face softening as she gave a very girly squeal, hugging the bear tightly. Ray and Tigre stared in shock at her before Lim looked back up at them, cleared her throat and said, "Very well. You're off the hook this time."

"…what the hell?" asked Tigre, confused.

"I gotta learn that trick," Ray deadpanned.

* * *

><p>A little later, Ellen called Tigre and Ray away into another room, a bedroom filled with teddy bears. And it wasn't just teddy bears, but a few pictures on the wall also depicted teddy bears. He had a pretty good idea Ellen had just called them into Lim's room, but there was no way to tell for certain.<p>

"Are you certain that this is okay?" asked Tigre.

"Normally it wouldn't," said Ellen. "There'd be a massive scandal if a guy sneaked into a girl's room without permission."

"Which is exactly what I think you're letting us do right now," quipped Ray.

"I'm making an exception just this once. I'm sure you're all curious about how I managed to save you all from Lim's wrath earlier, right?" Ellen asked, that childish grin on her face again. "Well, I'm about to show you something interesting."

"If this about Lim and the teddy bear thing, it's abundantly clear you can bribe Lim with teddy bears," Ray said. "But it seems like a bit much to call us here and risk getting all of us in trouble _again_-"

The Meijin was then interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps coming down the hall. "Quick! Get in the wardrobe!" Ellen then shoved Ray and Tigre into the nearby wardrobe, and then went inside, quickly pulling the doors closed until there was a crack that all three of them could see through. Lim came in and closed the door, eyes closed and groaning. She was still clutching the teddy bear.

"What's up with her?" Ray whispered. "She looks like how I do if I don't get my pills in the morning."

"Wait for it…" Ellen replied. "Wait for it…"

Finally, the groan turned into another squeal as she pulled off a spin with the teddy bear in her arms. "I can't believe Lady Eleonora! And Count Tigrevurmud and Meijin Kens! They're just enabling her now! Unforgiveable! Unforgiveable! Unforgiveable!"

"For someone so upset, she's still happy," observed Tigre.

"It gets better!"

"What will I name you?" Lim asked, her voice an octave higher than it usually was. "Alexei! …nah, I already used that one…well, your eye color reminds me of pomegranate, so I'll call you Grenade!"

"Does Lim have names for all of these guys?" asked Ray in wonder. Just from what he could tell there was about ten teddy bears just on the side of the room he could see.

"Isn't she adorable?" Ellen snickered.

"Adorable? I don't even know what to make of what I'm looking at," Tigre replied.

Lim, unaware of the two of them whispering, went for another bear nearby. "How about I say Grenade here is Alexei's long-lost little brother?"

"She has names _and _backstories?" Ray blinked.

"Brother! Brother Alexei, is that you?" Lim asked, waving around Grenade's arms. Then she switched to Alexei, her voice returning to normal. "We were brothers once, Grenade. But now, it appears we are enemies."

"Names, backstories, and now _skits_?"

"Lim always has had a soft spot for teddy bears," Ellen explained, with just a hint of smugness. "If she ever starts giving you a bad time, just give her a teddy bear and she'll lighten up instantly!"

Suddenly, Lim stopped, eyes looking around in suspicion. "I don't think I'm alone anymore."

"Dammit, did she hear us?" Tigre hissed, trying to pull his head out of the way of the crack, but with all three of them pressed together, it was hard to move without butting Ray or Ellen's heads with his own.

"God, let's hope not," Ray muttered.

"I got it! Ray, try to sneak a teddy bear into the wardrobe! Tigre, I need you to pretend to be a talking teddy bear when Ray gets one!"

"Are you insane!? That'll never work! Lim'll see through it for sure!"

"It's that or we're back to square one with her again!" Ray said, using his long limbs to sneak through the door to grab a black teddy bear he'd spotted at the corner of the wardrobe. Pulling it through the crack in the wardrobe doors, he held it out to Tigre. "Take it, dude! Our lives depend on it!"

"Fine! Breyda help me…" Tigre reached out and took the bear from Ray's hand. Of course, from where they were positioned, Ellen was between them both, so when Tigre took the bear, Ray's hand fell away and landed squarely on top of Ellen's breast, the opposite of the one Tigre accidentally grabbed during yesterday's spar. Ellen gave a slight squeak of surprise and embarrassment as Ray yanked the hand back, muttering a swift apology.

"Is someone there?" Lim stood up, looking around now. Tigre took the opportunity to stick the bear back out through the crack while her back was turned, and flicked it in a throw in Lim's direction. It ricocheted off of Lim's bed and came to rest against her ankle.

"Ahem…hey you kids, cut that out!" Tigre said, deepening his voice Ellen tried to stifle her giggles. "You shouldn't be fighting your own brother!"

Lim stopped, and for a moment, looked squarely in the crack of the wardrobe. Ray barely had time (and room) to genuflect, praying that Lim would look in another direction, as she took a step in their direction.

"Dammit, we've been found out!" Tigre whispered.

"So much for getting a free pass," Ray sighed.

Lim took another step, and then suddenly looked down, seeing the bear they'd thrown at her. And just like that, her demeanor changed back again. "Oh my! Are you saying you're Alexei and Grenade's blood father this whole time!?"

The wardrobe gave a sigh of relief as Lim went right back to playing with her teddy bears again.

"Glad that's over," said Ray.

"But how are we going to get out?" Tigre asked.

"…I didn't really think that far," Ellen replied lamely.

* * *

><p>Night fell after their great escape from Lim's room, and Tigre and Ray were celebrating with pilfered wine in Tigre's room.<p>

"May we never have to go through that again," said Ray.

"Amen," Tigre said, knocking their mugs together. After downing their drinks, Tigre threw out another question. "Ray…about that Addison's thing…"

"What about it?"

"I just I need to know…how long will your medicine keep you alive?"

Ray downed another shot of wine, looking at the perscription on the table between the two prisoners of fate. "…I don't know. I've been thinking about ways to make it last."

"Make it last?" Tigre asked.

"The idea is that I'm supposed to take two of these daily. I'd had it filled the day I was brought here, so I think there's enough in there to keep me going for about a month. So if I space it out, or only take half the dosage, I could make it last a few months," Ray said. "…in theory."

"In theory," Tigre repeated, turning his attention to the 00 Raiser Dash on its black stand. "And what of that medicine I gave you after your fight with Alain? How many do you have of those injections?"

"…probably enough for seven more injections."

Tigre downed more wine, looking at the Meijin of Leitmeritz with a searching expression. "And yet, why did you become Ellen's Meijin?"

Ray raised an eyebrow. "That's a funny question to ask, Tigre. Why _wouldn't_ someone want to be Ellen's Meijin? I mean, I get to do what I love for a living and it's in service to a beautiful woman who makes me laugh once in a while. Government jobs like that don't come easy."

"And yet you may only live more than a month," Tigre said. "And if you have any more incidents like what happened before…"

"I know. I'm well aware of what happens when my body doesn't get its adrenaline."

"…what happens if it does happen?"

Ray gave a low groan, not really wanting to answer that question, but at the same time wanting to humor Tigre for what was going on. "Chances are, my body goes into withdrawal…my blood pressure drops to way below normal…nausea, vomiting, all that good stuff…" Tigre was giving him a pointed look, and finally, Ray said it. "Worst case scenario, my organs goes into shock, leading to a coma, and then death."

Tigre sighed, putting his cup down. "Please understand, Ray. I don't do this to speak information you know already and get you to acknowledge your own mortality. I just…I want to know why you would still do this, knowing any day could be your last one."

Ray put his cup down as well, looking at the Raiser Dash in the flickering candlelight. "Tigre…what do you know about thorn birds?"

"Mm? Thorn birds?"

"They say legend has it that there's a bird that only sings once in its life, Tigre," Ray explained. "From the moment it leaves its nest, it goes searching for a thorn tree, and it never rests until it's found one. When it does, it sings, more sweetly and more beautifully than any creature on the earth. As it sings, it impales itself on the longest, sharpest thorn," Ray brought his down on a pair of outstretched fingers to illustrate his point. "But it rises above the agony of its impending death to out-sing the likes of the lark, the nightingale, and the swan.

"The thorn bird sing one song, one song, and no more, Tigrevurmud Vorn. But when it sings, the whole world stands still just to listen, and somewhere in Heaven, God smiles. It's driven to the thorn, not knowing why it was meant to die, only until the very end. Does it make it easier to explain?"

Tigre looked up at Ray. The Meijin, despite his rather depressing tale, seemed almost happy. And in that moment, he understood, the reason why Ray chose to become Ellen's Meijin, even as his own death hung over him like the moon in the night sky above them both. He smiled too, touching the rim of his cup. "Tell me, Ray. What do you think will happen to you when you die?"

"…personally, I think I'll be playing tenor saxophone at an all-girls cabaret in New Orleans."

"So you believe in Heaven in Canada, too?"

"Call it what you like."

Tigre poured them more wine, chuckling at Ray's dry remark. "If that's the case, Ray, then I say we should make a pact here."

"A pact, you say?" asked Ray, tilting his head.

"To the two of us. We are prisoners, bound by fate, and joined together for reasons neither of us can begin to identify. But as long as we are together, if you will protect me, then I will protect you, as if you were my own brother," Tigre raised his cup.

Ray smiled, lifting his own cup. "Brothers, huh? I'll drink to that."

The two of them drank to their new brotherhood, but then they were interrupted by the sound of knocking on Tigre's door. Ray stood up and opened it, and there was Rurick, his face bearing a mild troubled look. "Rurick? What's up?"

"What is up?" Rurick asked, confused, but then ignored the colloquialism. "We've captured an old man with a Brunish accent."

Tigre stood up and joined Ray at the door. "Take me to him."

Rurick led Ray and Tigre out into courtyard, where a group of soldiers was waiting next to a man in a shroud. Almed was also waiting there with them with Alain. Tigre recognized him instantly. "Bertrand!"

"Master Tigre!" the old man shouted gleefully, the two of them taking their hands into each other's. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

"I could say the same of you!" Tigre replied.

"Friend of yours?" asked Rurick.

"Everyone, this is Bertrand. He's been my attendant since I was a child!"

"My young lord, I'm afraid I've no time for pleasantries. I've come with dire news!" Bertrand continued. "Duke Thernadier has sent a force to march against Alsace! They number 3000 fighting men!"

"They what!?" Tigre's jaw fell open, looking outright shocked. "I must go immediately!"

"Uh, Tigre, you forget that you're a prisoner of war!" said Ray. "I don't think Ellen's about to let her prisoners fly home for vacation time, let alone stop an invasion!"

"This isn't something I can't let just happen! Alsace is my home! If I don't get over there, the Duke will…"

Ray frowned. It was clear Tigre was starting to lose his cool, so Ray drew him to his feet and pulled him up. "Tigre, settle down. Panicking does nobody any good. Is there any kind of standing defense there?"

"None. It's a small fiefdom, too far east of the main kingdom to be of any use, so the defenses are fairly basic," Tigre shook his head.

"We do have a standing militia, but they barely number more than 100 men. We'll be outright crushed unless something is done!" added Bertrand.

"And that is to drag Tigre out of the castle and potentially have us all executed for letting a high-profile prisoner escape?" asked Ray.

Tigre gave Ray an angry scowl. Almed quickly stepped in. "You know, it doesn't have to be like that. If you just go back to your room, we'll present your case to Lady Eleonora first thing tomorrow morning. I'm sure she'll by sympathetic to your plight!"

"We may not have that kind of time! Brune forces are mostly cavalry, they'll cover farther distances than standard infantrymen! One day may be the difference!" Tigre pleaded. "Please, Ray, you must help somehow!"

Ray looked up at Alain and Almed. Almed merely shrugged, and Alain gave him a curt nod, telling him to stick with Almed's plan. However, seeing Tigre's panicked face was already tugging at his heartstrings. Ray closed his eyes, trying to think about his choice. Do the logical thing and wait for Ellen's okay? Or do the thing that felt right and smuggle Tigre out of Leitmeritz?

* * *

><p>"Please come back, Tigrevurmud, Meijin Kens!" shouted Rurick.<p>

"It's alright, I'll be heading out with Tigre in the Raiser Dash. It's a lot faster than your standard mobile suit, so with any luck we'll fly out to Alsace, settle with the Duke, and be back," Ray said, turning around to address the bald noble as he and Tigre made their way to the gate with Bertrand. "With any luck, it'll only take us a day or two - ah crap."

Waiting for them at the castle gate was Ellen, nonchalantly leaning against the gate with the sheathed Alifar next to her. "Where are you two headed to so late at night?"

"Well…the reason for that is…" Ray began, but Tigre silenced him with an upraised hand, taking a step forward.

"Please let me pass," he said, his voice low.

"So that is a Zchted war maiden, then?" Bertrand asked, looking over at Ellen. "A Vanadis?"

"Indeed. She is the Wind Princess of the Silver Flash and Danseuse of the Sword, Lady Eleonora Viltaria," Rurick replied.

"Look, Ellen, I'm afraid this is time-sensitive, so this is not up for debate," Ray explained, and then he realized Ellen was still wearing the same high-cut purple and white skirt and blouse with bared midriff combo from earlier in the day. "And why are you still wearing that? It's freezing out! And considering I'm from Canada, that says something!"

"Oh? I didn't think you'd object to my outfit, Meijin Kens," Ellen said. "I specifically changed it just so you and Tigre could look directly at me."

Tigre didn't exactly know what she was talking about, but Ray sure did, as he suddenly recalled in vibrant detail the incident of seeing Ellen's naked body, and brushing against her breast during the incident in Lim's wardrobe. All at once his face was not nearly as cold as the rest of his body. Tigre thankfully covered for Ray's embarrassment. "I must return to Alsace!"

Ellen tilted her head. "Do you forget where you are, Tigre?"

"Duke Thernadier is sending his men to attack Alsace! If I don't leave now, the town will most certainly be in flames!" Tigre insisted. "Please, you must let me go! I will return as soon as my business is finished! I swear it on my life!"

"And what exactly is it you plan to do?" Ellen asked sharply.

Tigre blinked at the question. "What am I – I'm going to defend my fiefdom, of course!"

"How? I know of your skill with the bow, but what can you accomplish alone?"

"He's not going alone. I'm going with him," Ray cut in.

"You're…going with Tigre?" Ellen looked over at Ray. For some reason, she appeared almost betrayed that Ray was conspiring with Tigre, and the look almost broke his heart.

"Look. The 00 Raiser Dash is a mech built for pure speed. If anyone's got a chance of getting Tigre from here to Alsace and then back again in a reasonable timeframe, it's going to be me."

"You may have skills and resolve on your side, but what can two men do against an army of 3000 men?" asked Ellen. "It's a fool's errand."

"We know!" said Tigre.

"And you're still going?"

"The one thing we can't do is nothing," Ray said firmly. "I'd rather try and hope to succeed than not and fail outright."

"And what can a pair of haphazard, unthinking people like you do?!" Ellen snapped, going for Alifar. The longsword's wing handle shot open with a blast of wind. In response, Ray raised his Manifestation Device, particles already being drawn around him. "Didn't I say that running away was tantamount to your own execution? If you have a death wish, then I will happily oblige you. After all, dying here is no different than dying in Alsace. I'm just giving you a chance to choose."

"So you're not going to let us go," Tigre sighed.

"Please don't make me bust out the Raiser Dash, Ellen. You're a nice gal, but it doesn't matter if I have to go past you or over you to help out Tigre," Ray said, stepping in front of Tigre.

Ellen scoffed, still appearing troubled. "Do you know what's really bothering me about this whole situation? Use your wits, you two. You two tried so hard to change things to your advantage at Dinant, but now that your home is threatened, you're willing to throw caution to the wind with nothing but a bow and a Gunpla between you both?"

"I admit it's not exactly worthy of a corollary in the Art of War, but…" Ray began, but then fell silent. Ellen was still right. At the very end of the day, the Battle of Dinant ending with being taken prisoner by her was still a twist of fate that probably should have ended with him and/or Tigre dying. Instead, Ray was named Ellen's Gunpla Meijin, the greatest job he could've ever asked for. Or any Gunpla Builder/Fighter, really.

Tigre then nudged him, turning his back to Ellen as he drew him close. "Ray, think about it: she's had so much time to strike us down. Question is, why hasn't she?"

Ray looked up, considering it. It was definitely a good observation. "And she could've had Rurick or the others seize us…you're not thinking she's actually going so far as to…"

"Well, let's find out," Tigre grunted, before turning around and distancing himself from Ray. Coming between the Vanadis and her Meijin, Tigre suddenly bowed his head. "I have a favor to ask of you: please, lend me your troops!"

"Huh?" Ellen faltered, the point of Alifar lowering. Rurick and the other Zchted soldiers gasped, surprised by Tigre's sudden (not to mention rather outlandish) request.

"Um…Tigre, I don't think that's exactly something you're supposed to…say…" Ray began, but was interrupted by something he was not expecting to hear out of all of this.

Ellen laughing.

Alifar came down finally, stabbing into the stone ground as Ellen burst out laughing, apparently finding the whole situation laugh-out-loud hilarious, definitely a lot more hilarious than the others were finding it. Ray and Tigre shared a look. "Oh wow…I was not expecting that. That was so audacious it's actually kind of refreshing," she finally stopped laughing, but now she appeared to be smiling. The wind began to pick up, even as Ray, sensing that Ellen was no longer going to kill them, relaxed, the particles being blown in the breeze. "So, you want me to lend you troops, then? Very well then. But I'm not about to let you have them for free."

"What do you want for them?" asked Tigre.

"Alsace. All of it."

"If you can promise me a fair government for Alsace, and the safety of its people, then I accept your terms."

"Done!" Ellen said proudly, before raising Alifar into the air. "Raise the Zirnitas! We ride to battle!"

Ray shook his head as he made his way over to Tigre, nudging him with his elbow. "Tigrevurmud Vorn, you lead one hell of a charmed life."

"I can scarce believe it myself," sighed Tigre.

* * *

><p><strong>Ray and Tigre have managed to earn the aid of Ellen to defend Alsace, but will they be able to stop Duke Thernadier's plans? And will the 00 Raiser Dash fly again now that Ray has properly earned his title of Meijin? Find out in the next pulse-pounding chapter of Meijin to Ou to Vanadis: The Confrontation at Alsace!<strong>


	3. The Confrontation At Alsace

**Happy holidays, everyone! With all the usual December madness going on, this chapter was heavily delayed. But, here we are, and let this chapter, and the first official Gunpla Battle of the fic, help to ring in the new year!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter Three: The Confrontation at Alsace<strong>

"_So…the reason you are sending Zion to Alsace is…"_

_Duke Felix Thernadier was a bearded man in his forties, scarred and weathered from several years of dedicated military service to the King of Brune. As a result, he commanded great respect, and his transition from the battlefield to the court had not stalled him in the amount of power that he commanded in either. _

"_With the death of Prince Regnas at the Battle of Dinant, no one has the power of becoming the King. The hegemony of Brune rests either with me, or Duke Ganelon. We'll have to settle this struggle for power between us soon enough. Alsace is a land of no importance, what with it being so far removed from the rest of the kingdom, but it shares a border with Zchted. Duke Ganelon may try to take it while that Vorn boy rots in some prison."_

"_But to send as many as 3000 men to some place so remote…" His aide, Steed, continued._

_Thernadier smirked as he left his study and made his way back to his throne room. "It's because they are so weak and remote in Alsace that we must be thorough. The ones you leave alive one day may be the ones who kill you the day after. I also want to make sure they are also accustomed to Zion before we engage Ganelon properly."_

"_Milord, your son has come to see you." _

_Zion nervously entered his father's throne room. While he'd told his father that he'd managed to escape the debacle that was the Battle of Dinant with spear in hand, the truth of the matter was he ran for the hills the moment the Vanadis came charging in. He was hoping his father hadn't bothered to investigate his story further, as he was strict with his soldiers even more than with his serfs. "You sent for me, Father?"_

"_There is something I want you to do for me. You are to take 3000 men, as well as a small group of Gunpla Fighters, and ride to Alsace. Capture it, burn it to the ground, and if you capture any women, you can divide them out among the soldiers."_

"_Alsace? Isn't that the territory that belongs to that idiot Vorn who got captured at Dinant? What's the point of-"_

"_I do also have a parting gift for you as well," Thernadier added, silencing his son instantly with a gesture to his son to follow him. The two of them entered the stable, where, waiting for Zion, caged and held down by a couple of his soldiers, were two dragons. One was a magnificent winged dragon with blue-gray scales. The other was a larger, stockier wingless one, with scales the color of brass. Zion let out a chuckle, mightily impressed by the two creatures before him._

"_We've almost finished breaking them in." Thernadier's aide, Drekavac, added. Drekavac was a mysterious man with blonde hair, garbed in a white and red robe. "Take them with you to Alsace, and I'm certain you'll find their performance quite to your liking."_

"_You're kidding me, right? You're giving these dragons to me?" Zion asked, overjoyed. "Oh, just you wait, Vorn! Give me a couple of days, and I'll turn your precious Alsace into a burning waste!"_

"_There is one condition, I'm afraid," Drekavac continued, cutting in on Zion's glee. "The dragons are not yet used to the smell of towns. It'd be strongly disadvantageous to take them within the walls of Alsace."_

"_Seriously? Then what's the point of giving me these dragons if you're not willing to let me use them?!"_

"_There is a point!" Thernadier rumbled. "It is not to actually utilize their power, but instead to show _our_ power. It is a warning, not just to Alsace, but to all of Brune: stand against the might of Duke Thernadier at your own peril!"_

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe we managed to get away with that."<p>

Tigre could only nod, not answering Ray's statement as he rubbed down the bowstring of his bow in wax to keep it from fraying. Truthfully, he didn't feel like talking, kept silent by the happy thought of going home (if maybe only for a short time) and the scary thought of arriving seconds too late, to see it embroiled in the flames of war. Ray, meanwhile, was in the middle of giving the 00 Raiser Dash a final once-over, making sure it hadn't been damaged in any way since coming.

"You know, as long as we're talking about it, did you see the face Ellen made when I told her I was going with you to Alsace?" asked Ray, spitting into his hands to settle down his hair. "I almost thought I'd said to her, 'I once kicked a dog's head so hard it spun around like a windmill.' What on earth brought that up?"

Tigre didn't reply to that either, instead picking up his quiver and going through his arrows. Ray was about to ask him again when Almed appeared in the room.

"Meijin Kens, before you go, I figured you'd might want to take this." Almed pressed what appeared to be a stone flask of some sort into his hands. "A gift, from me and Master Alain."

"What is it?" Ray asked, pulling back the lid of the flask. Inside the flask was a stick of familiar bronze material, submerged in water. "Golem clay?"

"Yeah. In case you run in to any trouble while you're out with your tales of derring-do," Almed said with a grin. "Just remember to keep it wet and the lid closed until you apply all of it to the damaged parts, or it becomes useless. And if it's not properly fired, it'll be brittle and turn into a weak point."

Ray closed the lid, sticking the golem clay in his jacket pocket. "Properly fired? Almed, if Alsace is as way-out-of-the-way as Tigre has described it as, I may not have access to a proper oven."

"Any oven that's hot will do. Let it cook for ten minutes for minor damage, major damage should take about twenty."

"And what if I lose a weapon or a limb? I don't think there's enough golem clay to remake them and I won't have access to the plans."

"Don't worry about that. Just double on back here with it and tell me the plans you fashioned your Gunpla from, and from there I can refashion the parts for you."

Ray blinked. The explanation made sense, but there was something else that caught his attention in the statement. "What, you're not going?"

"No way. You're the Meijin, you're going with Lady Eleonora and Tigre here into battle against those Thernadier guys. I'm just a second-year-apprentice, I don't go anywhere unless I have the Master's okay."

"Well consider this an okay from the Meijin. Besides, I don't know if my body's going to hold up if we're going to be riding all night and into the morning and then getting into a fight. I'd like to have another guy covering my back. Just in case."

Almed mused over the situation for a moment, looking over at the Meijin as he spat into his hands and ran it through his hair once more, using the glare of his inactive GP Base as a mirror. "Are you sure Master Alain won't make a fuss?"

"If you feel that badly about it, you could always run into town and wake him up," Ray said with a shrug. "Or you could come with me anyway, and if he's got a problem, he can ride out to Alsace and reckon with me himself."

"…I also don't have a Gunpla, and I won't have time to make and assemble one for myself."

Ray's response was to hand him the Murasame he'd been using since he'd come to Leitmertiz. "Just be careful with it, Mister Alzari. I just washed and waxed the thing."

"Say what?" asked Almed, looking over the Gunpla in his hand.

Ray grinned and clapped Almed on the shoulder. "It's a Manitoban figure of speech, Almed. Now, go get yourself a Manifestation Device from the Guild. In the meantime, Tigre and I will go see if the ladies are ready to go."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Lim and Ellen were also preparing for battle. Ellen had changed into her usual bright blue garb, attaching sleeves to her arms and a short blue and red shroud to her shoulders, while Lim was now dressed in turquoise plate armor with matching gauntlets and greaves, and a white skirt.<p>

"Could you imagine that? A prisoner, asking for your troops like that?" asked Lim. "I was surprised he would even ask you that and think you wouldn't laugh him into a cell in the dungeons."

"Truthfully, I think he defied both our expectations," Ellen observed, tugging at her sleeves. "You said he'd try to challenge me to an archery contest. I said he would try to make himself my subordinate."

"And in the end he chose neither. Seems to me you lost the wager, Lady Eleonora, but at the same time, so did I."

"Well, it's not a bet if we both lose, right?"

"That leads me to the other thing. It was clear that you were upset that Meijin Kens chose to side with Count Tigrevurmud in this situation. At some point you may have to tell him about the previous Meijin, and what he was to you before you became a Vanadis."

Ellen tossed her hair up, letting come down over her shroud, her carefree smile disappearing. "I will tell him about it when we're not about to ride into battle, Lim. Right now, we have more important things to tend to."

Lim sighed. "If that is what my lady wishes."

The door to her office opened, revealing Ray and Tigre. Ellen turned around to face the three men before her, giving them both a once-over. Upon reaching Tigre, she pursed her lips. "You're going into battle dressed like that? You are a commander of an army."

"Well, this is all I have," Tigre said, looking down at his body.

"Yeah, when did it become a thing to buy a proper wardrobe for a prisoner of war?" Ray asked with a slight grin. "Plus, heavy armor and archers don't tend to make a good combination, if you ask me."

Ellen snorted a little at Ray's jibe, but was more concerned with Tigre. Lim shoved her helmet into Tigre's hands before trying to tame his messy red hair. "I guess it can't be helped. The least we can do, though, is comb your hair, make it a little neater before you go."

"Hold on! Let me try, too!" Ellen said, making her way down to help out her seneschal. After ten minutes of heavy patting, Tigre's hair now resembled some kind of bowl-style haircut. "There! That should take care of that."

Tigre himself didn't appear all that enthralled with it. One of Tigre's locks promptly came undone.

"What's wrong?" Ellen asked, noting Tigre's uninterested look at her battle garb. "I know you're struck with admiration, but the least you could so is say a word or two. Something like…I don't know, 'how pretty you look tonight, my lady Vanadis?'"

Tigre's reply was as measured as his hair, even as it fell apart into its usual messy state. "I've thought so since I saw you on the Dinant Plains."

Ellen gaped, surprised at Tigre's answer. Ray chuckled. "Ask question, get answer, I always say." Lim gave Ray a dull glare, so he promptly cleared his throat and tried to act as official as he could as they made their way out of the castle and into town. "So, what are we doing for the battle preparations?"

"We've pulled a thousand men from the garrison," explained Lim.

"Just a thousand?"

"Any more and that and our forces will become too unwieldy, especially for a mission when time is a critical factor, and we've also brought additional horses to swap out along the way," explained Ellen. "We've taken enough supplies to last us a few days, but that'll be okay, once we make it to Alsace."

Ray opened his mouth, about to question why Alsace would settle the problem, but then remembered the agreement. "Ah. But what about our numbers? We're still outnumbered three to one. Can we win with such a huge handicap?"

"It is possible," Tigre explained. "At the very least, we have the geographical advantage. Duke Thernadier may have Alsace marked on a map, but I doubt he, or any members of the Duke's family, for that matter, have been there in at least a couple of years. But I grew up there, so I know the territory a lot better than they do."

"I have also heard Duke Ganelon is at odds with him," added Bertrand, suddenly appearing alongside them with Rurick. "Thernadier has sent 3000 men, but that's all he can spare without leaving himself undefended."

"So we have the territory advantage, and we beat Thernadier there he'll have to back off so he can rethink his strategy, which buys us additional time in the long run," Ray nodded. "But what comes after, though, will have to wait until we clear them out."

"Exactly!" Ellen nodded smugly as they crossed through the threshold of Leitmeritz out into the open country, where a thousand Zhcted soldiers were ready, bearing the black dragon banners of Zchted and the blue and silver sword banners of Leitmeritz. "Now, Meijin Kens, if you would summon your Gunpla…!"

"Huh? What do I have to do with all this?" asked Ray in confusion.

"You are the Meijin of Leitmeritz," Lim explained as she mounted her horse. "Together, you and Lady Eleonora represent Leitmeritz as a whole, and it would only be fitting if the two of you led us into battle."

"Oh…" Ray made his way around the column into the vanguard with Tigre, Lim, Bertrand, and Rurick, with Ellen at the head with her white war horse. Looking behind him, he saw Almed quickly dashing in to join them, a necklace that he could only assume was Almed's borrowed Manifestation Device. "Right then!" He tapped his Manifestation Device, and immediately the pillar of particles erupted around once again. Ray's trepidation of the impending battle seemed to vanish for a moment, replaced with a kind of giddy excitement as he leapt into the air among the glittering particles, raising his Gunpla as he did. "00 Raiser Dash, Manifest!"

At once, the Gunpla lifted off from his hand, the particles clouding around it as, like the Murasame did in his fight against Alain, grew to full size and drew him into its chest as he leapt up into the pillar of energy.

The 00 Raiser Dash was an impressive Gunpla. Colored white and sedona red, with black, yellow, and sand brown accenting here and there, it was designed from the 00 Raiser and the Avalanche Exia Dash, with both the standard 0-Raiser and XN Raiser variants combined into one. The 0-Raiser's wings also had four blade-shaped attachments, two on either side, made from the movable repulsor wings of the AGE-2 Normal, and the outline of the large beam sabers from the AGE-2 Double Bullet could be seen bound to the center of the wings. To round off the design, the legs were equipped with two GN Condensers, as well as the two GN Claws from the Avalanche Exia Dash folded in the back.

Many of the Leitmeritz soldiers behind him oohed, impressed by the Gunpla before them.

"So this is a Mejin's Gunpla? One he actually constructed himself?"

"It looks powerful!"

"Look at all the swords!"

"Truly, those Brune bastards have no chance of winning with that thing on our side!"

Almed nodded in satisfaction, nudging Tigre in the ribs as he gestured at the Raiser Dash. "I'm telling ya, Tigre. Once you see a Meijin's Gunpla, you see the gold standard in Gunpla. The only people with the skills to match a Meijin are another one of Zchted's Meijin." Tigre nodded, sharing in the wonder shared by the Zchted soldiers behind him.

"Now then. Lady Eleonora, I await your command," Ray said, looking down at Ellen.

Ellen nodded, drawing her sword and pointing out into the distance. "To Alsace! We ride with haste!"

"UUOOOOOH!" The army roared, galloping off after their war maiden. Ray's twin GN Drives activated, scattering GN Particles around him as he lifted off into the air and followed them, watching over them like a guardian angel with green glittering wings.

* * *

><p>Zion's army arrived within two days.<p>

Titta wanted to meet them as Tigre's representative, but several other people stopped her, not wanting the sweet young woman to risk her life on her lord's behalf. In her place, four men, relatively old but still quite influential (such as it was), decided to approach the army as Alsace's representatives. All four of them returned, struck dead.

A few minutes later, the army smashed through the wood walls and oaken gate of Alsace, spreading through the township like a plague of army ants. They grabbed what they needed, destroyed what they didn't, and put the buildings to the torch. The majority of people, though, had been warned about the oncoming army, thanks to Massas, and those who had the strength had fled in hopes of seeking sanctuary in other territories. The rest, however…

"The hell do you mean, there's no one inside!?" Zion snapped at his soldiers.

"The villagers must have been warned about our coming, milord," one of them said. "They've mostly likely fled into the mountains and woods nearby, and the rest are currently shored up in the temple."

Zion snarled. Even he knew that attacking the people in the temple was a mistake. The last thing they needed was to start a religious incident and possibly have him or his father become the target of a holy crusade. And sending men into the mountains or woods to chase the rest was begging to have a trap sprung on them.

"Fine, leave them alone. We'll starve them out and wear down their morale. It's not like anything else more important was going on today. What's the status of the Shamblo?"

"Prepared on the hill, just as you ordered, milord. Though, why did you choose to take a mobile armor unit designed for long-range bombardment? You have three other Gunpla, each powerful units on their own, and yet you choose to use a ranged unit? Begging your pardon, but-"

"You calling me a coward, like that son-of-a-huntsman Vorn, who only knows how to use a bow!?" Zion snapped. "Look, one of the Gunpla Fighters said the Shamblo's the closest I'm going to get to being able to destroy a town without having to bring the dragons in. Quick, efficient, and devastating. You got a problem, take it up with him!" The knight nodded, quickly bowing out of his embarrassment, but then Zion added, "Speaking of which, get him over here!"

The knight nodded again and went off. A few minutes later, a pale young man with white-blonde hair and red eyes came over, dressed in a Brune knight's tabard over a dark blue shirt and brown leggings. "You called, my lord?"

Zion looked past him into Alsace, and one particular building near the back: a small two-story house, set against a small but roaring waterfall. A sick grin came over Zion's face as he returned his gaze to the Gunpla Fighter before him. "Get your Gunpla ready. I'm going to take a small group of knights with me, and we're both gonna go pay Vorn a visit at his house…if you know what I mean."

"Visit? But isn't he…oh." Casper nodded, realizing what he was talking about. "I'll summon the Nightingale and wait for you, milord."

* * *

><p>Out of all the people still in Alsace, only Titta remained.<p>

Titta was a young woman of about sixteen, dressed in a maid's black dress with her brown hair in twintails, tied with yellow ribbons. She'd originally been born and raised as a shrine maiden, dedicated to the worship of the gods. However, she met Tigre when they were children, and the two practically became inseparable. Eventually, she made a deal with her mother when she was eleven, becoming Tigre's maid while still practicing her other duties. After a while, it became a running joke in Alsace that the only person who could get anything done in Alsace was Titta, as she was the only one who could get Tigre out of bed in the morning.

She had waited and prayed every day for Tigre's safe return home. But the weeks of worry were starting to take their toll, especially with her alone in the house. Massas had ridden off to the capitol, hoping to buy time for Tigre's release (as well as ask the King for help, if it were possible), while Bertrand rode to Zchted in hopes of getting a message out to him, if not to attempt a rescue mission. But in spite of all that, she remained in the mansion, hoping to be the first to greet him on his return. She was almost convinced that the Brune soldiers outside ransacking the town was something crafted by her mind, a waking nightmare crafted by Tir na Fal, the goddess of darkness and death. But she knew better.

She gave a longing look at a black bow on a stand in a small shrine nearby before sitting at the table and closing her eyes, trying to hold back her tears.

"Lord Tigre…"

She was snapped from her prayer by the sound of something crashing to the floor downstairs. Titta dashed down to the first floor, where Zion had just entered, cackling as he kicked over a shelf, spilling its contents every which way on the floor. Titta knew this one was bad news, and yet for all her courage of wanting to face them, it had left her rooted to the landing just as swiftly. "Who are you?"

Zion looked up, noticing Titta for the first time as a thought crossed his mind. Despite her petite figure, she still had feminine curves, and if she wasn't in the temple, then she was free game. "Well, aren't you such a pretty one?"

"Get out," Titta said.

Zion put a hand to his ear mockingly. "Eh? What was that? I don't think I heard you properly." Titta remained silent at that. "For being one of Vorn's maids, you got some lip on you. Guess he's not exactly one for discipline. So, what was it you told me a few seconds ago?"

"I want you to leave," Titta repeated.

Zion's grin vanished instantly and was replaced with an angry scowl. "The hell'd you say to me?"

Titta recoiled, already feeling cold dread in her limbs from the way Zion's eyes went up and down her body, but then she invoked an image of Tigre in her mind as she shouted back, "I said get out of here! This estate, this town, they belong to Lord Tigre! I won't let you touch anything in here, so get out! I'm telling you get out NOW!"

Zion smirked as he made his way up the stairs, then drew his sword in a flashing arc of steel. Titta stumbled back from the attack in the nick of time, but the strike left the bottom of her dress shorn and exposed her almost to her navel as she slumped against the wall, holding on to the black bow in her hands. "What's wrong? You'd better start running, or I'll take those legs off next!"

Titta, realizing just what it is the man wanted of her, immediately scrambled to her feet and dashed to the other room, going through the drawers frantically. She knew Tigre kept a small knife in one of them, just in case of situations like these, and eventually found it. It was not even that great of a weapon in this situation, but she wanted something that she could actually use.

"So, we done playing tag yet?" Zion asked, entering the room.

Titta responded by taking the knife in both hands and lunging forward. Zion swung his sword, sending the attack harmlessly away and the knife up into the ceiling. Titta froze, realizing she was disarmed, and it was all Zion needed to take his sword and slice the point through Titta's dress again, this time exposing her chest. Heart racing, she stumbled back, grabbing the black bow as she made her way back to the window out to the balcony. And then she saw a humongous dark blue and red mech with massive wing-like shoulders descending next to the house, glaring at her with a single green eye in its helmet, a large black rifle in its arm, and she knew that she was trapped. "Lord Tigre…"

"Hah! What's this, a maid harboring feelings for her lost lord? How poetic!" Zion cracked. "His deadline passed last night! Right about now, he's on his way to a slave market in Mouzinel. I almost want to do the same to you, just so you can see him again!" Titta glared at him. "Hell, you'll be slaves together, so maybe he'll give you what you've been looking for!" he added with a cackle.

"No! Lord Tigre's coming! I know he is!" Titta said, although she could feel her heart sink hearing Zion mention the ransom deadline. She was hoping he didn't know about it.

"Holding out to the bitter end, huh?" Zion asked. With a quick sweep of his foot, he collapsed Titta and pinned her the ground. "Well, go ahead and call out to him! I want him to hear you scream his name while you're here with me!"

Titta squirmed and screamed under Zion's body, but already she could feel her own impending doom coming, even heavier than this nobleman ready to take her, and she closed her tear-filled eyes, praying for some kind of miracle. _Lord Tigre…_

SPLAT.

Zion froze, inches from his goal, feeling a burning sensation right in the middle of his palm.

Titta, realizing Zion hadn't done anything to her, opened her eyes, and saw what it was sticking through Zion's hand.

A red-fletched arrow.

_But…there's only one person I know that uses those…!_

Zion screamed as blood dripped from the wound onto his face, stumbling backwards to the ground at the impossible shot that had been made.

"Jump! Titta!"

Titta perked up instantly. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. Was it possible that Tigre really had come back? He had to, no one else could've made the shot through the gaps in the balcony and strike Zion's hand, inches from her own breast, without injuring her in the process. But, sure enough, Tigre was galloping in from down the road, armed with his bow, Rurick not far behind him. Quickly, the shrine-maiden-turned-maid scrambled to her feet and took a flying leap off of the balcony, still clutching the black bow.

Tigre urged his horse faster, hoping to catch Titta before she hit the ground. However, a knight he hadn't spotted lashed out with a halberd, tripping his steed. With barely any time to react, Tigre jumped off the horse's saddle as it began falling, reaching out to her.

"Shoot him, you bastard! SHOOT!" Zion screamed at the Nightingale next to him, still clutching at his injured hand.

"Yes, milord!" Casper turned, aiming the Mega Beam Rifle at the spot Tigre and Titta would eventually reach, but then music suddenly started ringing out over the battlefield, slowly getting louder as its source neared.

'_cause we will never listen to your rules! (NO!)_

_We will never do what others do! (NO!)_

_Know what we want, and we get it from you!_

_Do what we like, and we like what we do!_

_So let's get a party going! (Let's get a party going!)_

_Now it's time to party and we'll party hard! (Party hard!)_

_Let's get a party going! (Let's get a party going!)_

_When it's time to party, we will always party hard! _

And like a white and sedona red bullet the size of a small apartment complex, the 00 Raiser Dash came flying in, striking the blue and red Nightingale in a full-on Rider Kick, knocking his opponent's shot completely awry. "Not so fast, hotshot! I'll be your opponent!" Snarling, Casper disengaged, going airborne as he continued firing, but Ray composed a GN Field, absorbing the attacks easily before firing a flurry of GN Micro Missiles at it, knocking the Nightingale backwards over to the top of the waterfall.

As that was going on, Ellen swung Alifar, a humongous gust of wind following the swing of the blade. A small dust devil appeared right in the spot Tigre and Titta were going, catching the two before they had a hard landing on the ground and even rescuing Tigre's horse from hitting the ground. The two of them finally landed on their feet as Ray came over as well, still wary of where his opponent had landed as he silenced the music coming off his smartphone.

"What on earth was that?" Tigre asked, looking up at Ray.

"Just a little gadget I've got on me. I always wanted to pull off a Tony Stark," Ray smirked. Despite his confusion, Tigre chose not to question his friend's choice of words.

"That was incredibly reckless," Ellen said casually to Tigre, bringing her horse over. "Not that I want to lord yet another thing over you, but you could've gotten seriously hurt if I hadn't been here."

"…I get it now. That wind you summoned." Tigre looked down at the silver blade in Ellen's hand.

"Yes. The longsword that controls the wind, and the symbol of my station as a war maiden of Zchted. That is what Alifar is," Ellen said, an eddy of wind curling around the blade's edge. The wind quickly flew off the blade and curled around Tigre and Titta for a moment. "Oh. Looks like it likes you."

Tigre was only interested in it momentarily as he turned to the balcony Titta had jumped from. "Zion…he must be up there…"

"Who's Zion?"

"Zion Thernadier. The duke's son, as well as his heir," Tigre explained. "I've no doubt he was the one leading the attack."

"And it looks to me like he was up to some…extracurricular activities with your maid friend there," Ray observed, looking at Titta's shorn dress. Titta, still a little in shock from having escaped a life (and virginity)-threatening situation, could only slide behind Tigre, looking up at the massive mech in front of her as Rurick led a contigent of knights into the house to find Zion, if he was still there.

Tigre, like many other times, didn't even appear to notice, or understand the meaning of Ray's words, until just then. Fighting against the angry bile in this throat from Zion attempting to take liberties with Titta in his absence, he turned to her. "Now that you mention it, Ray…Titta, why were you…?"

"Just…just in case you…came back…" Titta said, already sniffling as she crossed her chest to at least cover herself a little, still clutching the black bow in her trembling hands. "I just at least wanted to carry this out while I could…"

"You absolute dummy, you should've fled the town or taken refuge in the temple! The bow isn't-" Tigre began.

"I couldn't!" Titta cried, tears flowing freely now. "I was left to mind the house while you were taken captive, Lord Tigre! I couldn't have run even if I wanted to! I was so scared…I was so scared, but I believed in you!"

Tigre finally seemed to understand what was happening, and drew her close. "Thank you, Titta."

"Well, finally we see your type. I'm rather jealous," Ellen said, cutting in on the touching exchange.

Ray cleared his throat, at least attempting to be polite. "As much as I'm a sucker for the romance, Tigre, I think it's time we got back to securing the township, don't you?"

"Lord Tigre…who are these people?" asked Titta, looking from Ellen to the Zchted soldiers to Ray in the 00 Raiser Dash.

Tigre was about to reply, when suddenly his sixth sense cut in, and his hand flew out, snatching an arrow right out of the air, the head inches from Titta's temple. Like a coiled rattlesnake, Tigre reacted almost on pure instinct as he spun the arrow in his fingers, notched it on his bow, and unleashed a searing shot into the bushes. A hidden Brune archer slumped over dead from his cover in the hedges. Many of the soldiers oohed, completely enthralled by Tigre's skill.

"Holy crap! How does he continue to make those insane shots!?" asked Almed, completely in shock.

"I don't even question it anymore, Almed," Ray shook his head.

Tigre exhaled in satisfaction, which turned into a wince when he looked at his hand. While he'd saved Titta from a swift death, his palm was torn up by the arrowhead, bruised and bleeding. Titta, despite the state of her own clothing, swiftly tore a strip of her apron off, wrapping the wound in it.

"Can you fight?" Ellen asked.

"No problem." Tigre nodded.

"Very well. Zirnitras up!" Ellen's knights raised their Zchted banners as she made her way back to the vanguard, but stopped as she saw something arcing out from over the rooftops: something that looked a lot like missiles, but they began to break apart in mid-flight, sprouting propellers on the top and what looked like small panes of glass on the bottom, hovering over various places around town. "What is that?"

"Floating pinwheels?" asked Tigre, looking up at them.

Ray, however, took a look and realized them for exactly what they were, and immediately alarm bells went off in the Meijin's head as he pulled out his two GN Buster Sword IIIs. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

There was a flash of light, followed by a series of beams soaring through the air in all directions as the knights, Ellen, and Tigre took the ground, Tigre protecting Titta with his body. Ray quickly slashed two of the things with the swords, and the beams arced right over their heads and collided with the waterfall face behind them. There was a slight rumble in the ground from the impact, but thankfully no one appeared to be injured.

"What were those, Ray?" Ellen asked quickly.

"Reflector Pods! They're designed to alter the trajectory of beam weapons without lessening their kinetic energy!" Ray said. "But the only unit I know of that ever used that was…" Ray took to the air, GN Particles floating everywhere, and with a quick scan, found a large red, almost dragon-like unit on the outskirts of town. "They got a Shamblo!"

"A Shamblo?" repeated Tigre.

"Yeah! It's a Neo Zeon heavy artillery mobile armor unit from Gundam Unicorn! Probably wanted to nuke the whole town with it once they were done pillaging it!"

"Well, then, you'll just have to get rid of it before it kills us all, Meijin Kens. I leave it in your hands!" said Ellen.

"Yes, ma'am!" Ray quickly shot up into the air, swords bared to fight the enemy.

Ellen quickly motioned and pointed forward. "All forces charge! Tigre, come quickly!"

"Of course-!" Tigre began, starting to follow the charging enemy, but then he happened to see his bow. Apparently he'd pulled back on the string so hard when shooting it there was now a crack in the bow's curve, rendering it completely useless. "How…? It was fine a minute ago…!"

"Lord Tigre…!" Tigre turned, and saw that Titta was holding out the black bow to him. "I think it's time to use this."

Tigre stared at the black bow. The black bow was a sacred weapon, not to be used idly. No one could guess where it came from, but it had been a part of the Vorn line for generations. His father had only one thing to say about it.

_Use this bow only when you truly need to._

"So this was what he was talking about, then," Tigre murmured. He took the bow from Titta, handing the broken one to her. Holding it out at arm's length, he tested the bowstring. Just from the flick of the black string, the world seemed to tremble in anticipation. The fate of Tigrevurmud Vorn, Earl of Alsace in the Kingdom of Brune, made a prisoner of war by the Vanadis Eleonora Viltaria, and bound as brothers with her Gunpla Meijin, Raymond Anselm Kens, was about to drop upon the world like hammer on heated steel.

Outnumbered three to one, and yet somehow victory was nearer than anyone could guess.

* * *

><p>Zion had managed to escape safely.<p>

The Brune prince was in pain, furious, and just a little frightened. Seriously. Just a little. Everything had been going so well. They'd taken the town, acquired most of their essential supplies from it, and was just about ready to properly claim it in the name of his father. But, like a bad penny, Tigre came back. He just _had_ to come back. And, he had not only reinforcements of some sort (he couldn't identify them because of what was going on), but he had a Gunpla Fighter with him!

As he started making his way back toward his forces through the damaged parts of town caused by the Shamblo his father had brought with him, he saw the Gunpla that had assaulted the Nightingale flying around, attacking the Shamblo's reflector pods with its swords, even as the artillery unit continued to harass it with more beam fire and some missile salvos. Growling to himself, he finally passed through the gates, where a few Brune soldiers were waiting to receive him.

"Milord, you've been injured!"

"Never mind that!" Zion snarled. "Where's the Nightingale!?"

"Just re-engaged the enemy Gunpla!"

"It's a fast one! The Nightingale can barely keep up with it!"

Zion looked up. The Nightingale had indeed re-engaged with the 00 Raiser Dash, but it was clear that the Nightingale would be hard-pressed to fight its much more mobile opponent. "Send in the other Fighters! Have the Shamblo use its Reflector Pods to keep him and Vorn contained to the town walls!"

The Nightingale activated the beam tomahawk in its shield, the yellow blades extending u-shaped weapon. In response, Ray shot backward, careful not to land on any houses, putting away his GN Buster Sword IIIs and replacing them with a pair of beam sabers. The two Gunpla met in the middle, electricity crackling between them as though a live wire were nearby. "So, who to whom do I owe the pleasure of fighting today?"

"I am Casper Des Moines, Gunpla Fighter in service to His Lordship Duke Felix Thernadier!" Casper grunted. Several small objects suddenly launched from the Nightingale's massive shoulders, revealing a set of Funnels. Cursing, Ray, disengaged, shutting off the beam sabers as he extended his arms, firing away with his arm vulcans. Two of the funnels went down, but there were still at least eight more in the air. "And who are you, Fighter under the Zchted banner?!"

"Raymond Anselm Kens!" Ray replied, activating his GN Field to hold off against the remaining Funnels as they fired on him. "Meijin of Leitmeritz in service to the Vanadis Eleonora Viltaria!"

"The Vanadis from the Battle of Dinant?!" Casper called back his funnels, and then fired a hail of micro missiles. The wings of the 00 Raiser Dash shot up as the GN Field went away, firing their own GN Vulcans into the salvo of missiles. The missiles exploded, showering the area in smoke, only for a new mobile suit to come zipping in, a white one with the same Zeon mono-eye as the Nightingale, but it was slimmer and had two big rockets attached to its back. It struck the 00 Raiser Dash with a punch to the stomach, and then unleashed gunfire from hidden ports in its arms. The GN Condensers on Ray's legs shot open, unleashing a burst of particles that allowed him to escape.

"This oughta be interesting!" the newcomer said, pulling out a machine gun. "I was hoping to take on the Vanadis's new plaything!"

"A Nightingale and a Gerbera Tetra? This is rapidly getting dicey…!" grunted Ray, zipping away from another hail of bullets from the Gerbera Tetra. As he extended his arm to return fire, a fighter jet came soaring into the fray, firing a pair of black egg-like objects at him. With no time to reactivate his GN Field, Ray raised his arms as the eggs exploded against his Gunpla, rocking him with small explosions. The fighter suddenly unfolded as it soared past, transforming into a new Gunpla, with a single visor eye. "Re-GZ…no, a ReZEL!"

"Well, he knows his Gunpla!" The ReZEL pilot said, pointing his beam rifle at Ray. "And it looks like he knows how to build them, as well. I don't see any damage from those grenades I launched at him!"

"Well, he's got three guys plus the Shamblo facing him now," the Gebera Tetra pilot said as the three Gunpla surrounded the Raiser Dash. "Even _two _Meijin would have trouble facing off against us!"

"I'm curious," Ray merely grinned. "Do guys in Brune not know the phrase about counting chickens?"

Upon getting no reply, Ray shot up into the air, and the 0-Raiser detached from the Raiser Dash, folding into its mobile armor form and shot at the Nightingale, blasting its GN Vulcans. Casper swore and blasted off in another direction, but the 0-Raiser, being smaller and much more mobile, was able to match it effortlessly, beams blasting into the Nightingale's armor before shooting up and away from the retaliatory missile salvo.

At the same time, Ray reactivated his beam sabers, shortening the blade of one to a fourth of its size, and launched himself at the Gerbera Tetra, flinging the weapon at it like a dagger. Swearing, the Tetra shot up, dodging the attack, only for Ray to come up right along with him, swinging the other. The Tetra's arm flew off the mech and collapsed in a cloud of dust outside the town.

"Gah! You bastard!" The Fighter retreated, firing away with its rifle again. Ray shot to the side, dodging the fire as 00 Gundam Dash and 0-Raiser recombined, and then Ray spun again, blasting away at the missiles with his arm vulcans and shooting them down.

"Take that as a no," Ray quipped. "You know, as long as we're all here trying to kill each other, you mind giving me a name?"

"We are the Des Moines brothers," Casper said. "Gunpla Fighters all. I am Casper, the youngest of the three."

"I am Julius, the middle brother," said the pilot of the ReZEL.

"And I am Nathan, the eldest," finished the Gerbera Tetra pilot.

"Charmed, I'm sure," quipped Ray.

"Oh, you will be. There won't be an excuse not to once you see our combined assault!" Nathan said, taking off at Ray, firing with his rifle and his arm cannons. Ray zipped to the left, swinging his GN Buster Sword IIIs at the Tetra as it flew by, only to be met with a crushing blow the back from the ReZEL charging him with its shoulder. It produced its own beam sword, trying to stab Ray with it, but Ray elbowed Julian in the chest, then actually backflipped in the air, dodging the oncoming blow, while at the same time charging his GN Claws for a kick attack. Julian managed to fly out of the way in time, allowing Casper to fire his Mega Particle Rifle at him. Ray then twirled through the motion of his attack, dodging the blast, then shot up into the air to avoid it.

"Did he just backflip out of that surprise attack from a standing position!?" asked Casper. "That's almost impossible, even for an Anno Domini Gunpla equipped with a Twin Drive System!"

"Guess that Meijin title isn't just for show!" Julius observed. "All the more reason to beat him!"

Nathan flickered left to right, firing again and again. Ray shot forward, ahead of the salvo, then arced back around to attack the Nightingale, swords bared. The ReZEL fired his beam rifle, trying to catch him by surprise, but Ray barrel-rolled around the attack. The Nightingale jerked to the right in time to dodge Ray's slash, and then all three of them retreated up into the sky. Ray wondered why for a moment, but then he saw why: the Shamblo unleashing another flurry from its Diffusion Guns, the blasts ringing off the Reflector Pods every which way. The Raiser Dash shot forward, avoiding one beam, but he wasn't fast enough to dodge the rest as four beams sliced through Ray, carving burns in the ground and buildings around him.

"Ray!" Tigre just happened to be nearby with Almed on the next street over, and saw him getting struck. Making his way into one of the buildings damaged by the Shamblo's attack, he quickly made his way up to the top of the roof, where he was surprised to find the Raiser Dash still there, although there was clearly scorch marks where the beams struck him. Inside the Gunpla was a different story, as Ray clearly felt the strikes against him and he was certain blisters were forming on his skin. Ray looked over and saw Tigre on the roof, and quickly moved forward, hoping to obscure him from the Des Moines brothers' views and not give an easy target, keeping his swords up.

From his position, Tigre could see most of the city and the soldiers in it. Most of the soldiers were keeping their distance from the fighting with the Gunpla, instead preferring to fight on the other side of town. It was making the entire area very cramped, with many of the soldiers fighting with shorter weapons to avoid hitting their comrades. Needless to say, Lim and Ellen would have their hands full trying to control the battle, and he would be instead aiding Zion than them if he fired into that massive melee. So instead, he turned his attention to the Reflector Pods Ray had pointed out.

"Tigre!" Almed happened to be nearby with a small group of Zchted soldiers, and saw Tigre standing up at the top of the building. "What are you doing up there!?"

Tigre pointed an arrow in his hand at the closest Reflector Pod, hovering well above their heads and off to the side from the melee. "Where would you say is the best place to shoot these Reflector Pods?"

Almed looked over at the Reflector Pod in question, then back at Tigre. "You're going to shoot a Reflector Pod? With that little thing?" he paused a moment, then remembered who he was talking to. "You know what, never mind. There's a shaft the rotors are attached to. If you shoot the part between the two of them, that should do it. It's gonna be a hell of a shot, though, even for you!"

"As Ray said last night, I'd rather try and hope to succeed than not and fail outright," Tigre replied, notching the arrow. "Besides, I'm more useful here than trying to fight in the crowded streets."

Almed opened his mouth, closed it, and then nodded. "Fair enough. Just be quick, though, we don't want to be anywhere near here without a shield!"

Tigre hummed in reply, inhaled, then let it go as he shot the arrow. Like a bullet, the arrow cleared the scything blades and smashed right through. The rotors groaned to a halt, and the Pod fell to the ground, exploding into scrap on the ground.

"The hell?" Nathan, the nearest to the Pod, looked over at it, giving Ray a chance to swipe at him with his GN Claws and force him back. Tigre took the opportunity to get off the roof, landing next to Almed.

"You should bring your Gunpla out and help him," Tigre added, pulling out another arrow. "I'll take these men and do what I can to help you out from down here."

"Sounds like a plan. Just promise you'll stay clear of the fighting!" Almed said, taking out the Murasame. "Murasame, Manifest!" Once again, a pillar of particles shot up, forming around Almed as he spun on his foot, raising his hands into the air. This time, however, the Murasame Gunpla took in the particles first before shooting into Almed's chest, right in the middle of the necklace Manifestation Device he was wearing. A bright burst of light shot out, soaring above the other Fighters' heads as the Murasame, now full size, appeared in the melee, wings spread.

"Another one!?" asked Julius.

"Greetings, gentlemen!" Almed chirped. "Almed Alzari's the name. Now…" Almed pulled out the Murasame's beam rifle. "Which one of you boys wants to tangle with me first?"

"Aren't you just adorable?!" Nathan's response was to start blasting Almed with more gunfire. "Cocky bastards don't tend to live long as Gunpla Fighters!"

Almed shot up into the air, going into his mobile armor form to get away from the bullets while firing his vulcans to counter. With the Gerbera Tetra out of the way, Ray turned his attention to Julius and Casper, raising his combined Buster Swords. "Now then…where were we?"

* * *

><p>Zion's day was going from bad to worse. Now there were two enemy Gunpla! It had become abundantly clear his initial impressions about Tigre's forces were wrong again, and getting word from the battle going on in the village streets was hard with how crowded everyone was, due to everybody avoiding getting involved in the crossfire as much as possible. Add the fact the Shamblo's Reflector Pods were mysteriously being destroyed, and this battle was getting even worse in his favor.<p>

As he stared out into the battle, he happened to catch yet another Reflector Pod falling to the ground, destroyed. Zion narrowed his eyes, trying to pinpoint the enemy. It looked like the majority of the Pods were concentrated in a small area, and he sent a small group from his main force to find out what was destroying them.

"Milord!" a knight came to him, carrying something in his hands. "I've found something that might explain the Pods."

Zion took it from his hands, and discovered a familiar red-fletched arrow. Once again, Tigre was finding ways of destroying his best-laid plans. How Tigre was able to destroy a Gunpla weapon with a bow was particularly troubling. Dragons could fight Gunpla on an even keel. Groups like the Serrash assassins often deployed their mysterious anti-Gunpla weapons to specifically target Fighters. The thing was, his father was the only one who actively used dragons in his armed forces, thanks to Drekavac, and anti-Gunpla weapons were rare, not to mention huge weapons on their own. It'd be impossible for Tigre to have either without him knowing.

Looking up, Zion saw another Pod go down on the other side. With the Shamblo's pods rapidly depleting, he saw a very narrow window of opportunity before him to kill Tigre, if he was really the one sniping them. "Have the Shamblo fire again! Spread the fire as much as you can without hitting the main melee!"

"Milord, our Fighters are still out there, a shot from the Shamblo could hit them with the current formation-" A knight nearby began.

Zion's response was to sock the knight in the face with his good hand. "I WANT VORN DEAD! FIRE!"

The Shamblo's Diffusion Guns lit up as they charged, and then let fly once again, beams ringing off the Pod's panes. Tigre's sixth sense kicked in once again, and immediately he took a flying leap off of his vantage point, landing hard on the ground as a couple of reflected beams seared right through his hiding spot, turning the house he was hiding in into a burning heap. Thankfully, the marksman had come away with no real injuries, save maybe a sore back from how he landed.

The 00 Raiser Dash also saw the beams flying their way and shot straight up into the air, GN Condensers on his legs shooting open once again for additional speed. The Des Moines brothers were not as quick to react, however. One particular beam was ready to hit Casper in the Nightingale, but something smaller came barreling in at impossible speed and kicked him out of the way, the beam slicing it clean in half across its middle, followed swiftly by two more.

Ray could only watch in horror as the wreckage of the Gerbera Tetr, fell to the ground with an earth-shaking thud, which was followed by a sudden explosion. As the cloud of smoke it caused began to pour up into the sky, he could see the splayed body of whom he assumed was Nathan, the wrecked Gerbera Tetra in its Gunpla form, pieces scattered everywhere. Ray clenched his fists, his shock giving way to a kind of unbridled fury he had never felt before. His blood screamed with fire, despite his otherwise-addled body.

They didn't care enough about their own man. They just fired anyway and took him out just to get him. Was this what he was up against? People with no remorse that they were willing to take what they pleased just for their own sake from innocents while their lord wasted away as a prisoner and fire on their own people to defeat the enemy!?

No.

He would not allow them to get away with it.

They were going to pay for this!

"HEY ASSHOLES! NOW IT'S MY TURN!"

**(BGM: Gundam 00 OST – Decisive Battle)**

Ray shot up into the air, the Raiser Dash splitting its GN Buster Sword IIIs. At the same time, its GN Claws activated, unfolding from Ray's back and attaching to his feet. The white and red 00 Raiser custom swung its swords, cleaving through two of the Reflector Pods. It then somehow flipped in mid-air, its GN Claws blazing to life and forming two small beam sabers of their own, cleaving through another two. The Shamblo immediately reacted, firing a massive green beam blast from its main mouth. Ray activated the GN Field again, taking the attack even as it shoved him backward through the air and threatened to shove him back into the waterfall behind Tigre's mansion.

"Ray!" shouted Tigre, taking the black bow and aiming at the mouth of the beam cannon with an arrow. Almed quickly came down in the Murasame and blocked his shot, however. "Almed-!?"

"Watch this. I think the Meijin of Leitmeritz is about to ply his _real _trade right now," Almed said.

"Now, feel the fire of my burning soul! **TRANS-AM!**"

Suddenly, amid the flurry of green particles shielding it, Tigre saw the Raiser Dash change colors, from white and red to a shocking hot pink. With a roar, the beam dispersed around the field and left the Raiser Dash standing, before shooting into the air, afterimages following the Gunpla along with the green particles flying around him. Again, the Shamblo unleashed its Diffusion Guns, bouncing the blasts off what Reflector Pods it had left to hit the Raiser Dash, but Ray rolled and swerved around each blast with ease, before diving back down into the field, buzzing over the rooftops as its wing-blades shot forward and activated their beam edges, skewering some of the Reflector Pods as it flew by, while the rest were swiftly slashed apart by the Buster Swords.

"Bastard!" Julius fired his grenade launcher again, but Ray kicked out with his foot, the GN Claws flaring to life as they slashed through the grenades. He grabbed another Reflector Pod from the air and threw at the remaining brothers, firing a few shots from his arm vulcans as he did. The small beams rang off the errant device, showering them in gunfire as Ray lashed out with his other arm, using his sword to destroy yet another Pod.

Zion cursed under his breath. He knew better than to push his luck here if the Shamblo couldn't hit such a mobile target. Hell, pressing his luck only got one of his own Fighters killed! And it only got worse when another soldier reported in.

"We have reports of the enemy soldiers you saw! They're from Zchted!"

"Zchted!?" Zion stood up, ripping his wounded hand away from the soldier who was treating it. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, my lord! They're flying the Zchted banner, as well as a second banner!"

"And? Out with it!"

"It's a blue banner depicting a silver flash! It's the same banner that flew at the Battle of Dinant!"

Zion ground his teeth, though it was more out of frustration now than the pain in his hand. Of the three thousand men he had, eighty percent of them had taken part at Dinant. He'd been hoping to use the sacking of Alsace to restore their morale, but with their old enemy returned as well as Tigre, his soldiers' morale was plummeting quickly. Unable to use the dragons to his advantage, as well as being down a Gunpla Fighter, the battle had turned into a complete SNAFU, and Zion decided it was time to invoke the time-honored tradition of recognizing discretion as the better part of valor.

"Call all our forces back! We'll retreat and take a defensive posture at Molsheim Plains! Have the Shamblo take off ahead of the army and meet us there!"

"But milord, with that enemy Gunpla still out there-"

"I don't care! If we lose the Shamblo, we lose our best chances to beat that thing! Besides, it's at least armored and hover-capable! There's no way it can be destroyed in a single shot against a melee unit!"

As the Brune army began to retreat, the Shamblo, now given its order to pull out of the battle, folded into itself and took off southward, floating a few feet off the ground on its hover jets. Ray watched it leave, but he was still running hot from the initial battle and was still not ready to let things go. "You wait right there, big guy! I got a special present for you!"

The Raiser Dash took off like a shot, the ReZEL trying to chase him down, but Almed came flying in with the Murasame, forcing Julius to break off. The Shamblo, realizing it was under attack, stopped and reactivated its beam cannon, unleashing another blast, but the Raiser Dash somehow rolled around the attack, wing-blades suddenly unfolding forward, energy crackling down the beam-edges and two more beam sabers, larger than the others, formed from the binders in the center of the wings.

Ray quickly checked the timer in the corner of his eye. 45 seconds left of Trans-Am. Just enough time for one last trick.

"Dash Mode, activate!" Ray's GN Condensers shot open again, unleashing more GN Particles into the air. "GN Field, full power!" The GN Field appeared around the Raiser Dash as it combined its Buster Swords and raised it overhead. The Shamblo's shoulders lit up to fire its Mega Diffusion Particle Guns, but Ray suddenly kicked out with his feet and dove headlong at it, the spherical Field starting to warp into something more cone-like, with the point at the tip of his swords, and crackling with energy. Ray could see tunnel vision starting to eat away at his sight with the sudden increase of G-force, but willed himself to stay steady to the end as he yelled his finishing move's name.

"**TRANS-AM…METEEEEEEOR!**"

The attack struck the Shamblo straight through its body and smashed through the massive mobile armor from bow to stern, blasting right through and finally coming to a halt on the ground. Its wing-blades retracted into place as the Shambo exploded fantastically behind it.

**(End BGM)**

Casper and Julius stared at the Raiser Dash from their respective places in shock. As Fighters, they knew any Gunpla could be beat in the right circumstances. Even a lowly Zaku had a good chance against a Wing Zero in the right circumstances. But a Shamblo was bigger and definitely more resistant to standard Gunpla. And yet, the Meijin of Leitmeritz had taken on a Shamblo, a massive mobile armor designed for long-ranged bombardment, in a headlong charge, and didn't just win, he obliterated the thing. Casper, sensing an opportunity to catch Ray by surprise, pulled out the Nightingale's beam tomahawk, but Julius reached out and stopped his brother.

"Cas. We're done here."

"This isn't over!" Casper insisted. "He's right there! We can beat the Meijin and avenge Nathan-"

"The general sounded general retreat. We're pulling back. Go rejoin the rest of the army." Nathan's Gunpla shook its head. Casper relented, and the Nightingale left the area, leaving only Julius in the ReZEL. "Raymond Kens, was it? I'll remember this. We'll meet again, and I promise you'll find out how a real Gunpla Fighter battles." Then, the ReZEL went into its mobile armor form and took off as well.

"Oh no you don't! I didn't say we were done-!" Ray began, starting to go after him.

"Ray!"

Ellen's shout finally cut through the blood screaming in his ears, and the blackness still crowding his vision went away. The 00 Raiser Dash ceased its Trans-Am, resuming its normal colors for a few seconds before it released its particles, transforming into its Gunpla form as Ray came down to earth once more, with Ellen, Lim, Tigre, and Bertrand rushing over to him. Ray, however, went right past them, trying to make his way over to where he saw Nathan fall. However, by the time he arrived at the place, the Brune Gunpla Fighter was clearly dead. A heavy weight seemed to come down on Ray's body, forcing him to his knees.

"Ray!" Tigre went to Ray's side, looking at his friend's eyes. "Ray, are you alright? Do you need an injection?"

Ray waved him off, eyes still transfixed on Nathan's corpse. "Tell me we're going after them."

"What?" Tigre asked.

"Tigre, tell me we're going after these guys! Tell me they're going to pay for what they did!" Ray looked up at Tigre, eyes betraying his anger and frustration.

Tigre gripped Ray's shoulders, trying to get Ray to focus on something else other than the guy who had been alive not five minutes ago. "We will, Ray. We will. But not now. You've done your job. Bertrand, take Ray back to the mansion. I want you and Titta to see to it that he gets some rest. If he doesn't come around after a reasonable time though, seek me out immediately."

"Of course, milord!" Bertrand nodded and dutifully helped Ray to his feet, draping the Meijin's arm over his shoulders. Despite his age, Bertrand was still quite strong. "Come, Meijin Kens. It's actually quite homey in spite of its small size. You'll like it." Ray opened his mouth to reply, but closed it and nodded, just hoping he could sleep off the negative emotions.

Tigre, Ellen, and Lim watched him leave, even as Almed came down to join them, his borrowed Murasame disappearing. "I've been circling the area. All the enemy forces have retreated. What are your orders?"

"Have the men shore up the town. Repair the gate and the walls, fortify the area and start setting up camp outside. See if you can get any supplies from around town that they didn't already get," Ellen said. "Once we've ascertained the state of our affairs, I'll go talk to Ray."

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Tigre asked.

"It's battle shock, more than likely. I've learned to recognize the signs," Ellen explained. "It'll pass on its own, but I want to make sure he understands what's going on."

Tigre nodded, although his look towards the mansion in the distance still showed Tigre's worry for his friend. "Very well. Now, please excuse me. There's something I must do first."

Picking up the black bow, Tigre made his way up the road to the temple, tapping on the door with his weapon. "Everyone, it's safe! You can come out now!"

After the sound of the door being unbarred on the other side, the door opened, flooding the inside of the temple with light. The villagers inside looked up, seeing their returned lord, and many of them cried out in joy.

"Lord Tigre!"

"He's returned to us!"

"I always knew Zchted would never be able to hold him!"

Tigre smiled. "Everyone. Thank you, for not giving up on me. But this fight is only just beginning. Come out into the light, and I will tell you everything!"

* * *

><p><strong>Alsace has been saved, but the fight between Tigre and Zion has only just begun. The two will have to meet in a final showdown, but how will it pan out? Can Ray recover and have vengeance for Zion killing Nathan? And what other tricks does Ellen have up her sleeve with Alifar? Find out in the next chapter: The Battle of Molsheim Plains!<strong>


	4. The Battle of Molsheim Plains

**Well, it took a while, especially with the return of school, but I FINALLY have the next chapter of Meijin to Ou to Vanadis for ya!**

**Once again, I'd like to extend a thank you to RainGirl9 for getting me straightened out on Addison's Disease as well as give me a great resource to help me out in later chapters. Anyway, let's move on to the battle!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: The Battle of Molsheim Plains<strong>

It was nearly sunset when Ray woke up. He was surprised to find himself in a bed, albeit one a couple of sizes too small with the way his feet cleared the headboard. There was a keen whistling nearby, probably the sound of a kettle for tea. Briefly, he wondered how he got into the bed. Then, he had a sudden flash of memory. Beams flashing past. An explosion. A fallen man not much older than him, next to the remains of a broken Gunpla. He winced, trying to block out the memory. While that part was as clear as day, the rest wasn't.

"Good, you're awake. I was hoping we wouldn't have to redo the situation that Almed described from your first morning in Leitmeritz."

Ray started, not expecting to hear Ellen's voice. The Vanadis was currently leaning against the doorjamb, Alifar sheathed at her side. However, her voice and face were neutral. "How are you feeling?"

"Still feel like crap, honestly. I took my pills this morning, but it feels like I didn't."

"How so?" Ellen's tone remained neutral.

"My legs are killing me, for one. For another, I've got a salt craving like you would not believe right now, I got a major stomachache, and I was hoping I could sleep it all off, but…" Ray trailed off, instead flopping back into the bed.

"Was that your first Gunpla Battle?"

"Depends. You mean my first Gunpla Battle here? Or my first Battle in general?"

"Here. Barring the fight against Alain, of course."

Ray pursed his lips, somehow not liking Ellen's still-neutral tone. "Yes. At least, one like today. I've been doing Gunpla Battle since it came out ten years ago in Canada, but…I didn't think it'd be so…so…"

"Real," Ellen finished.

"Yeah," Ray nodded pensively, looking up at the ceiling.

"And? What about the incident with that Shamblo and that other Fighter that was killed? What brought that about?"

Ray said nothing, still trying not to revisit seeing Nathan's dead body and destroyed Gerbera Tetra, and the mysterious blank that came after. Ellen, sensing this, entered into the room proper and grabbed a nearby chair, sitting across from him. "Ray. I've seen this kind of look before. It's from people who've never had to experience death on the battlefield like this. I know it's hard for you to process, but I want you to at least try to talk to me."

"I don't know. I just remember seeing the Shamblo firing, getting out of the way, checking to see if Almed was getting out as well, the Gerbera Tetra getting shot…it's all a blur after that. I just got really angry and then…nothing."

"What about after the blur?"

"All I remember is going to see if the guy was still alive, and then Tigre checking up on me," Ray shook his head. "After that, I just wanted a nap so badly."

Ellen nodded, closing her eyes briefly. "I see. But that's still not answering my original question, though. Why did you lose yourself in that moment?"

Ray was silent, trying to piece his words and thoughts together amidst the torment in his mind. "Because it wasn't right. Why did he have to get shot by his own guy? No warning, not even so much as a token attempt at trying to get his attention to say they were going to fire again. They just blasted away and poof, down he went. That doesn't just happen, you know? You don't fire a spread weapon like that while your own guys are in the area! It ain't right, I tell ya! It ain't right!"

Ellen gripped Ray's shoulders, watching her Meijin try to reign himself in before he worked himself into a frenzy and injured himself. "You're right. It's not. But now you know what's at stake here. You are my Meijin, and you'll have to make peace with yourself knowing you will have to kill for me of your own volition, and that you may end up falling one day, too. That's what happened when…" Ellen suddenly trailed off, biting her lower lip.

"…Ellen?" Ray asked.

"Listen to me, Raymond Anselm Kens," Ellen continued after a moment, her eyes radiating an iron will. "You belong to me. You're a man far from home, and you will be forced to do a lot of things you might not understand, or agree with, but you must trust me enough to obey. I will help you through the trials before you to the best of my ability, but you must not waver in your duty to me. With that said, do you still wish to be my Meijin?"

Ray's response was swift and true. "Yes, Lady Eleonora."

Ellen finally smiled, letting go of Ray's shoulders. "Good. Now go get cleaned up. We'll be holding council of war with Tigre and Lim in a few minutes."

Ray nodded. "As you wish, milady."

* * *

><p>Despite the damage to Alsace, the mansion was relatively untouched, even with five Gunpla fighting each other in the air. Ellen had directed the soldiers that could still fight in repair efforts and carting out the dead, while the villagers, thankful for the timely return of Tigre and the aid he brought from Zchted, were tending to the wounded Zchted soldiers. Despite their homes being largely in ruins, morale was high among the villagers.<p>

Ray and Ellen joined Lim, Tigre, Rurick, Almed, and Bertrand in the upstairs loft. Lim and Tigre were seated at the table, which had a map of the area spread out, while Rurick and Bertrand were standing off to the side.

"Ray," Tigre said, standing up as the Meijin came up the stairs. "Are you alright? Feeling better?"

"I am now," Ray nodded, arching his back. "How long was I out?"

"Just a koku," said Tigre, clapping the taller man on the shoulder. "Come, take a seat. Titta's making tea for us."

Ellen took a seat at the head of the table, with Ray sitting across from Lim, while Tigre returned to his seat. "How is it, Lim? Do we have official numbers yet?"

"300 enemy soldiers were killed in the battle in the streets. We pursued them out of the gates and into the hills as far as the destroyed Shamblo," Lim reported. "Those who evaded are no doubt rejoining the main force, and are probably reorganizing for another attack. "

"What about the enemy commander?" asked Ray.

"He escaped, unfortunately," Rurick said distastefully. "He's probably rejoined the main force as well."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped," Ellen sighed. "If the original number of their forces is three-thousand, that leaves 2700 enemy soldiers in the main force. We also have two Gunpla Fighters that we still have to fight against."

"We can leave up to a hundred men to garrison here in the village, so that leaves us with 900 fighting men at our disposal," Lim added.

"Still outnumbered three to one, then," Ray frowned, tapping the side of his cheek. "Do we know where the main force is camped? They were too organized for a full-on rout, so that means they have to be nearby."

"Here, more than likely," Tigre pointed at a place on the map they had laid out between them all. "Molsheim Plains. There's a lot of hills and grassland there that they can use to utilize the full potential of their knights and cavalry."

"Then that's where we'll hit them," Ellen smirked.

"And give them what's coming," Tigre agreed, his face passive but reflecting his iron will.

At Molsheim Plains, things were not quite so chipper for the Brune forces. Just as Zion had predicted, despite losing only three-hundred men out of three-thousand, morale was low at being pushed back from such an easy objective as well as the return of their dreaded enemy, the Vanadis from the Battle of Dinant. Zion's hand been bandaged (quietly), but the wound was still clearly bothering him as he berated the three lieutenants under him. "How the hell did Zchted forces take us by surprise?! What are they even _doing _here?!" He angrily took a few gulps of wine and slammed his goblet down, wincing as the pain in his hand bit back at him. "…Vorn. It has to be Vorn. That damned traitor cut some sort of deal with the Vanadis! Of course he did, he only knows how to use a bow!" He promptly stood up. "Send out more scouts! Tell them don't come back unless they're absolutely certain that they have the enemy numbers figured out!"

"Yes milord!" the knights promptly stood up and then took their leave. No sooner had they left, however, than Zion was confronted by a very angry Julius, followed by not-quite-so-angry Casper.

"You damned fool of a prince!" snarled Julius, grabbing Zion by the lip of his chest armor and rearing his fist back to punch him. He promptly desisted when Zion's bodyguards drew their swords, pointing them at the Gunpla Fighter.

"You have a lot of nerve, grabbing me like that," Zion said.

"You killed our brother! You're lucky I haven't taken my ReZEL and blasted this whole camp to smithereens!" Julius countered. "What was it you were so intent on destroying that you were willing to maybe kill all three of us?!"

Zion glared at Julius. "First of all, you know that's an empty threat. I have your Manifestation Devices and you know I keep them under lock and key until I need you to fight. Second, maybe you could tell me how Tigrevurmud Vorn was able to con the Zchted forces into working for him!"

"Why the hell would we know that?"

"I know you Gunpla Fighters. You're all very chummy with each other, all exchanging information for good contracts…who's not to say you knew that Vorn had turned traitor and chose to keep it to yourself?"

Julius, if it were possible, become much angrier at that insinuation. "You would murder our brother in cold blood and then accuse me of treason in the same breath!? How DARE you!"

"Julius, please!" Casper cut in, trying to pull his brother away from Zion. Julius, hearing his brother's tone, looked away with a growl.

"This bickering is pointless," Zion said bluntly. "I still hold your contracts and your Manifestation Devices. If you leave now, you will not be able to have your family leave Nemetacum. And you know full well how my father punishes those who fail him…"

Julius and Casper shared a look. While Gunpla Fighters were no doubt useful in a battle, not a lot of people in Brune trusted them. Unlike Zchted, who allowed Gunpla Fighters a degree of freedom by allowing them to have their own Manifestation Devices, Brune viewed them as mercenaries who only held trust to the highest bidder, and to protect themselves, lords kept Manifestation Devices for themselves. There was little room for negotiation.

"That said, I am willing to make it up to you," Zion said, a grin forming on his face. "Tigrevurmud Vorn is out there, protected by a Vanadis's Meijin. You take out Vorn and that Meijin, I'll put a good word in for you with my father. He'll make it worth your while."

Julius and Casper shared a look.

* * *

><p>"Tigre and I will take the lead with four-hundred men. Lim, Ray, you'll have the rest," Ellen said. "With this plan, you'll be dealing with the brunt of the initial attack. Take advantage of the terrain and the enemy any way you can."<p>

Lim looked at the map, musing over the orders she'd been given. "I'd like some rope. As much as you can get me. And don't worry if it's too fine, we can double up if we need to."

"Rope, hm?" Tigre asked.

"Let me take care of that!"

Bertrand and Rurick parted as Titta came up the steps, carrying a tea tray. She had swapped out her ruined maid's dress with a dark blue one with a ochre and white blouse, and despite her harrowing ordeal at Zion's hands, seemed to have recovered quite quickly. However, there was something in the maid's expression that seemed out of place, and Ray couldn't figure out why.

Titta placed the tea tray between them all. "I can ask the people in town. I'll get the rope you need."

Tigre smiled. "Thank you, Titta." However, his smile was replaced with curiosity as he noticed that Titta was looking rather pointedly at Ellen.

"Um…are you…" Titta's cheeks were already starting to go bright red, just to add to the curiosity surrounding the situation. Finally she summoned up her courage. "Are you and Lord Tigre in some kind of relationship?"

Ellen blinked, processing the question for a moment, but then she remembered how Titta seemed to act around Tigre when he rescued her during the battle, and that childish grin appeared once again. "Well, you see, Tigre belongs to me."

Titta gasped, realizing what had happened. Tigre nodded. "She is right, you know. I'm her prisoner, after all. For the time being."

"Oh, there's no 'for the time being' attached to that. That treaty says you belong to me now, and I don't remember getting paid my three years' revenue…"

"Fair enough, but at the very least we need to focus on the battle-"

"I won't be outdone by you!"

Ellen and Tigre stopped, looking up at Titta's outburst. Titta, realizing what it was that she blurted out, immediately ran out of the room with an embarrassed scream, earning some slight laughs from Ellen, Tigre, Bertrand and Ray.

"I will say this about Alsace…it's small, but it isn't boring," Ray grinned.

"So she won't be outdone, hm?" Ellen agreed.

"Lady Eleonora. Meijin Kens."

"It's alright, Lim," Ellen said, waving off Lim's remark.

"By the way, what exactly were you going to do with those spare horses you brought over?" asked Tigre suddenly.

"Spare horses? What spare horses?" asked Ray.

"The ones we brought with us to swap out so we could keep going," explained Tigre.

"Oh, those horses. We were going to leave them in Celesta," said Lim. Celesta was a neighboring town near Alsace, and technically another territory that was owned by Tigre. "Is there some issue you take with that?"

"Actually, I have an idea," said Tigre.

* * *

><p>The day of the battle came.<p>

Zion and the Brune forces were set on one side of the valley, divided into three separate forces. One force contained seven-hundred men, all infantrymen with spears and bows. The second group was as squad of 1000 mounted knights, with steel armor and hardened lances. Finally there was the main force, led by Zion himself, composed of the remaining thousand as well as his two dragons. It was a composition often seen in Brune, customized for fighting on grassy, undulating plains.

On the other side was Tigre and Ellen, with the four-hundred cavalrymen out of their nine-hundred. Surprisingly, Ray was not among them, and in his place was Almed with his Murasame. In addition to carrying his Murasame and Manifestation Device, Almed was also carrying a large curved sword, out of place amidst the longswords and spears carried by the Zchted forces behind him.

"Ahoy, young lad!" Bertrand called as he and horse joined Tigre, Ellen, and Almed in the vanguard. Bertrand carried no weapons, and instead was laden with multiple quivers to resupply Tigre on the battlefield. "Not exactly going to give me an opportunity to use my sword arm, I see!"

"Don't worry about that. Just stay behind me and Ellen, and we'll make sure nobody hits you. Right?" Tigre said.

"Of course," Ellen said, looking at Tigre. "And that also means I won't let anyone hit you, either, as long as I'm here. Is Ray in position?"

Tigre scanned the horizon behind the Brune forces and spotted a single burning arrow, arcing high into the air and over the hills, completely unnoticed by the enemy in front of them. "That's the signal. Ray's in position."

Ellen gave Tigre a sideways glance. "Are you scared?"

"Well…yeah," Tigre said. Despite the remark, he was smiling. "But, it doesn't feel like I'm going to lose." And so it was. Despite the circumstances, he felt confident, especially with Ellen and Almed and the Zchted soldiers behind him.

"Coincidentally, so do I," Ellen also smiled, drawing Alifar. At once, the wing on the sword's handle shot open, glittering wind swirling around the blade. Then, she pointed it forward and galloped forward into the oncoming Brune army. "CHARGE!"

The Zchted army roared in reply, joining their liege in the charge. Down in the valley, a line of Brune spearmen set themselves, spears pointing forward to break the charge, while a salvo of arrows from the archers in the second rank were loosed, flying towards them. "Alifar!" At once, Ellen swung Alifar, a swirling gust of wind blowing forth from the weapon to clear the path, sending the arrows flying harmlessly off in all directions. From his position behind Ellen, Tigre notched three arrows on his bowstring, then shot them all at once. Three archers in the second rank were struck through the head and fell instantly.

"You are absolutely uncanny with that bow of yours!" Ellen said.

"I'm surprised to hear that from you!" Tigre replied, unleashing another trio of arrows into the melee.

"Don't worry, it's a complement!" Ellen said. Another line of spearmen braced themselves for the charge, but Ellen and her white war horse cleared them instantly, Alifar smashing through their spears with ease and the soldiers' necks just as easily. However, having managed to clear the first rank of Brune soldiers, Ellen and the rest were now faced with the brunt of the army. The Brunish knights were a true force to be reckoned with, and even with Ellen and Tigre clearing the way, the Zchted army found their charge quickly stifled by Brune's own. Slowly, the Zchted army was pushed back.

And then they were faced with an even bigger problem.

"Dragon!"

"They've got a dragon!"

"Dagboz help us…!"

One of the dragons, the wingless brass one, had made it to the battle, crushing and mauling every Zchted soldier in sight, while the elite Brune knights surrounded them at their flanks. Escape was now impossible for the smaller army.

"Imagine, taming a dragon," Ellen said. She actually seemed excited at the prospect of battling something far larger than herself. "And a brass one on top of that!"

"Looks like it's time to break out the big guns," Almed added, sheathing his bloodied curved sword. He produced the Murasame from his horse's saddlebag and then his Manifestation Device. "Murasame! Manifest!" At once, Almed vanished from his horse's back, and the Murasame descended onto the battlefield, beam rifle in hand. Immediately, Almed fired with the weapon at the land dragon.

The pink energy blast rang off the dragon's armor and flew off into the distance.

"What the hell!? I've never seen a dragon shrug a blast off like that before!" Almed said in shock.

Tigre took the opportunity to loose an arrow at the dragon's eye. Like the beam blast, the arrow rang off harmlessly, apparently protected by some kind of special film. "It's just too hard…!"

"Gunpla incoming!"

Looking up, Almed saw Julius's ReZEL soaring towards them in its mobile armor mode, firing its twin grenade launchers at the cornered Zchted army. Almed, thinking fast, spread the Murasame's wings and fired all his vulcans at once, blasting apart the grenades before they found their mark. As Julius stopped amidst the flying smoke, Almed came bursting through, now in his own mobile armor mode, and unleashed a hail of missiles to counter. The two Gunpla soared past each other, unfolded back into their mobile suit form, and drew their beam sabers, clashing in the middle of the sky.

"Where is the Meijin of Leitmeritz?! I have no time to battle you!" Julius shouted.

"Sorry, the Meijin is a bit preoccupied. You'll have to battle me instead!" Almed countered, firing his head vulcans. The ReZEL disengaged, firing its grenade launchers again, and the Murasame was forced to break off in another direction.

From his position overlooking the battle, Zion was quite pleased. Though they had broken through the front line with a bit more gusto than he had initially seen, the knights and the land dragon were more than making up for it. More and more Zchted knights were being trampled under the dragon's claws and with no hope for escape and their Gunpla tied up by his own, Tigre would surely be dead by nightfall. "Die…die for me, Vorn…! Let that dragon tear you apart and trample your remains! It's no more than you deserve, you traitor!"

"Lord Zion! Enemy forces have been spotted coming in from the southwest! No more than four-hundred! They're headed for the second column's flank! The Meijin's Gunpla is with them!"

Zion frowned for a moment. "Trying for more cheap tricks like they did in Dinant, huh? Send four-hundred men to form a flying column and intercept them! And have the other Fighter intercept that other Gunpla!"

Down in the valley, Lim and Rurick were galloping in with Ray in the 00 Raiser Dash above them, as per the battle plan, even as Casper and his Nightingale bore down on them, firing away with his own Mega Beam Rifle. Lim and Rurick's forces crashed against the column's flank, drawing their attention away from Ellen and Tigre. With the pressure alleviated, the other soldiers on that flank went to go assist their fellows on the other flank, and Casper and Ray met in the air, beam tomahawk against Buster Sword, leaving Ellen and Tigre alone to face the land dragon.

"Well, I admit I wasn't expecting this," said Ellen. "But, for providing me this opportunity, I'll reward you by showing you one of my fancier moves!"

Tigre watched in awe as the wind swirling around Ellen suddenly howled, sparkles flying every which way. The winds began to curl around Alifar, swirling and forming into a sphere of sparkling wind, a veritable magic storm in Ellen's hand, concentrated at the sword's tip. The dragon, sensing the oncoming attack, charged headlong at Ellen, hoping to trample the Vanadis underclaw before her attack.

"_Mow down, air and all!_" Ellen shouted, her eyes blazing an even brighter red than they were before. She then swung her sword with all her might, unleashing her furious assault. "_**LEY ADMOS!**_"

The sheer wind power was incredible. Even as far away from the attack as they were, Ray, Almed, and the Des Moines brothers could feel the swirling tornado Ellen unleashed at the earth dragon attempt to pull them into its vortex to share in the fate of the land dragon, as it was lifted bodily into the air. The dragon, which was impervious to sword, spear, arrow, and even a shot from a beam rifle, had no means of defense against the Vanadis's attack, and the shearing winds split the dragon. All that was left of the tremendous beast was its corpse, a large gash that no living man could hope to mirror in his lifetime sliced through its body, as it lay in the rent ground in front of Ellen.

"Sweet baby Jesus Christ…" The battle had somehow stunned everyone, even the Gunpla Fighters in the air. Ray had finally seen the true strength of his lord and master, and it was terrifying, to say the least. Casper, meanwhile, was first to regain his senses, and immediately swung his beam tomahawk at Ray's head. Ray actually shot forward into a full-on tackle of the larger Gunpla, the tomahawk burning away at Ray's shoulder joint.

"What on earth was that just now!? I've never seen that move before!" said Tigre.

"Well of course. It's a technique I don't break out very often," Ellen explained as the raging winds blew away. "There's so much force behind them I'd rather not use them against people."

Rurick then approached Lim at her position nearby. "The enemy is approaching. No more than 400 men in a flying column."

"Alright then. Start the retreat, just like we planned."

Lim and Rurick wheeled their cavalry around taking off into the hills without a fight. The flying column quickly followed, thinking Lim and Rurick were in full-on retreat to avoid tangling with them, but then Lim whistled loudly at something in the valley. As the Zchted rearguard pulled away, something suddenly shot up between them and the Brune knights: a length of rope, long enough to trip up the entire first rank of the column. A domino effect occurred, the rest of the column tripping over their comrades as horses and riders fell to the ground in heaps and some were trampled underfoot.

"About face!" The trap was sprung. At Lim's command, the group wheeled around again and charged the fallen column. Lim looked on, watching the Zchted soldiers decimate the flying column with relative ease. She had asked for rope to pull of this task, but she wasn't expecting to have so many people to contribute.

_I originally thought it was because everyone was mad at Thernadier for invading their town, but even then I doubt it would have been enough. It has to be the trust they have in Count Tigrevurmud…_

* * *

><p>Up in the sky, the battle between Ray, Almed, and the Des Moines continued, Almed against Julius and Ray against Casper, and Ray could already feel the side effects of his on-the-fly medication plan starting to kick in. Whenever anyone with Addison's would go into a high-stress situation, or in the case of doing a lot of exercise, usually they were supposed to take additional medicine to compensate. However, with his medicine severely limited to what he had on hand, Ray didn't want to take any more than what he took for any other normal day. So he only took two pills and prayed the fighting would be swift, like it was in Alsace, but just as he feared, the fighting was even longer, and already he could feel himself slipping into crisis mode.<p>

Nevertheless, he persevered.

"Tell me something," Ray grunted, trying to use his boosters to compensate for his own failing strength as he pushed against Casper's tomahawk. "Why would you back Zion? The man's got no skill, no sense, and if you saw what he did to that girl from Tigre's house, he's clearly got no honor, too!"

"You speak as though I was not aware of it!" Casper said, shoving Ray backward. "But this is war, and I am a mere Gunpla Fighter!" he opened fire with a hail of missiles, forcing Ray to fire his beam vulcans to destroy them all. "My word means nothing in the eyes of our lord!"

"Seems like bad planning to me," Ray observed. "You're a Gunpla Fighter! You're in a mech that dwarfs villages, and yet your opinion doesn't matter? Maybe you're thinking about this all wrong!"

"Are you telling me that I should betray my lord and serve you, Meijin? Do not take me and my brother for some common sellswords!" Casper countered, firing his Mega Beam Rifle. Ray zipped to the side, the blast flying past him into the distance, but he was unable to do much more as his stomach started flip-flopping and his hands were shaking, a sure sign he was on the brink of crisis. If he didn't treat himself now, he'd be potentially inviting death to him.

"Almed, cover me!" Ray shouted.

"Little tied up, but I'll try!" Almed quickly went into flight mode, taking off in a low stoop towards Casper, firing off a few missiles as Julius and the ReZEL gave chase. Casper raised his shield to defend against the barrage and then charged at the oncoming Murasame. Ray quickly fired his own barrage of missiles, trying to blow the Nightingale off-heading while Almed peeled hard left and down, trying to draw the brothers away from Ray as he stuck a Buster Sword in the ground and quickly dug into his jacket, trying to retrieve one of his syringes from his jacket. Casper and Julius, however, managed to break away from each other before colliding, the GN Micro Missiles hitting empty air.

That was all the opportunity Ray needed. Ripping the cap off the needle with his teeth, Ray jammed it into his leg. Ray could only imagine what that must have looked like to someone watching him, or if this was mid-fight during a Gunpla Battle back home. As Casper fired away with his rifle, Ray grabbed his nearby Buster Sword and dashed forward, the beam blast hissing over his head. He lifted off from the ground and combined his blades, thrusting forward with the weapon. Casper raised his shield, blocking the attack.

"And another thing: you tell me your word doesn't matter to your boss and yet you're still willing to serve him? What power does this Thernadier guy have over you!?" Ray asked.

"That's not for you to know!" Casper retorted.

"You're a Gunpla Fighter, man!" Ray's knee shot up, smashing against the Nightingale's chest plate. "You could be your own boss, and yet you're taking orders from a guy who'll have a little fun with some random maid and attack her town while her lord wastes away as a prisoner of war! Are you so dense that you'll turn your nose at it just to save your own ass?"

"Maybe I would if it means keeping my own sister away from him!" Casper snapped back, swinging his shield. The beam tomahawk inside it barely missed Ray due to their close proximity, but the revelation was enough that it smashed into Ray's side, sending the 00 Raiser Dash stumbling away.

"…you have a sister?" Ray asked, keeping his blade raised.

"Two of them. They're back home with our family, in Nemetacum. Julius and Nathan and I, we…we became Gunpla Fighters so we could get the money to get them out. Do you know who rules the land there?" Casper asked.

"…I got a good feeling," Ray pursed his lips. "Tigre's also spoken at length about what goes on under him, too."

"Then you know what it is we hope to save them from," said Casper. "Duke Thernadier is…cruel beyond words. And the thought of him taking one of them to become a wife to that fiend of a son of his is something I would not wish on anyone. But even so!" Casper raised the Nightingale's mega beam rifle. "To that end, I would serve him, to serve him! We both would! You may have a Vanadis on your side, but you're still heavily outnumbered and we have a second dragon!"

"And that's enough to think you've backed a winner?" Surprisingly, Ray kept his grin as brought up the Raiser Dash's wings. "I guess you didn't get it the first time."

"Get what?" Casper asked suspiciously.

"The phrase about counting chickens." With that, Ray shot three more missiles into the air, but on closer inspection, they were actually flares, lighting up in a red-red-green pattern.

* * *

><p>With the remaining Brune forces, Zion's luck and his good mood had vanished in a trice. No sooner had he been given the report that the land dragon been defeated by the Vanadis than he heard about the defeat of his flying column. Any normal general would've put it behind them, instead focusing on the battle in front of him, but so terrible would be the wrath of his father that awaited him for losing even one of them that it was enough to keep his attention elsewhere.<p>

And then, even more bad news dropped in on him.

"There's an enemy force coming in from the rear!"

"How many!?" Zion asked the scout, his temper flaring.

"It appears to be a force of…two-thousand men!"

"Two-thousand!?" Zion stood up from his chair, looking as though he'd been shot through the hand again. "My own forces don't number more than six-hundred here! How did Vorn get that many men and get them behind us without us knowing!?"

"Lord Zion, send out the sky dragon!" offered one of his lieutenants.

"Send out the sky dragon!? Are you mad!?" Zion snapped at him. "We had a land dragon and they killed it! Split it clean in half! What chance does a sky dragon have against that kind of power!? Its claws are worth more than a hundred of you! If it dies, it'll be _me _that'll be punished!" Zion bit down on his thumb, trying to puzzle his way out of the situation. Eventually, a solution struck him. "Call back the second formation! Have them retreat and cover us here!"

More than a few men started murmuring. The idea was clearly a move of desperation, something a seasoned general wouldn't resort to even if he was faced with an army three times larger than him. However, what Zion and the rest of the Brune army failed to realize was that the two-thousand man army that the scout had spotted was not really an army. In fact, there was only a hundred men, the hundred that they had set aside for Alsace's defense. But, Tigre's plan was to disguise the hundred men with the two-thousand spare horses they had brought on their march to Alsace from Leitmeritz, and set it up so that it would appear to be an army of that size. Between the terrain, huge shadows and setting sun, as well as not having any additional Gunpla Fighters in the air to confirm their scout's findings, nobody would be the wiser.

And Zion bought it hook, line, and sinker. Successfully fooled, he was now telling his men to gather to him and fight to the last against a phantom army.

"Lord Zion," the same lieutenant insisted. "We can get through this! Even against two-thousand men, our forces will not be swept over instantly! If our knights on the front can hold their ground and our Gunpla Fighters can keep the Meijin occupied, we can-"

"Shut up, you damned fool!" He never finished, as Zion promptly punched him across the face. It didn't help that he'd punched him with his wounded hand, and now he was clutching it quite visibly. "I gave you an order! Tell the knights to pull back now!"

The word went out. More than a few other lieutenants out on the front were confused and definitely frustrated at the order, but obeyed their lord's word and pulled back. Needless to say, the horn blasts to call out the retreat order to the Des Moines brothers hadn't gone over so well either. The Zchted army didn't stop, however, instead continuing to pursue their foe and pick them off a piece at a time. At the same time, Ray and Almed continued to chase the Des Moines brothers, harrying them at every turn to keep them from dispelling the ruse. By the time the sun was passing over the hills to the west, the entire Brune army had collapsed and routed, scattering in all directions, leaving a furious Vorn alone with his six-hundred men and remaining dragon.

And as Vorn looked up and saw Casper and Julius coming down to land behind him, he could see Tigre, Ellen, Lim, and Bertrand, followed by Ray and Almed, and his face contorted with rage. "Vorn…! You bastard…!"

Tigre called a halt some two kilometers away, deciding to parley with Vorn. "Don't think you can run away from this battle now, Zion Thernadier!"

"Run away! Bah!" Zion countered. "You'd betray our own country and invite Zchted in for no good reason?! You really are the son of a huntsman!"

"Before blaming me for my own shortcomings, I'd look in a mirror if I were you!"

"The hell'd you say!?"

"You'd make your innocent population suffer, burn their houses and take their belongings for flimsiest of reasons! I may be the son of a huntsman, but you are no more than a common thief!"

"What? Population? That's what this is about?" Zion cackled. "Peasants are like plants! You just cut them down and they grow again like weeds! Why would you even care!?"

Ellen frowned. "He's quite the lowlife, isn't he."

"I'll say. This guy really is a scumbag," observed Almed.

"Amen," said Ray bitterly, thinking about Casper and his family.

"I can't claim to know your intentions," Tigre continued, ignoring his comrades. "I only know that you will not be forgiven for trying to raid my lands and inflicting your torments on my people!"

"You've got some nerve…!" Zion snarled, but then a thought struck him, and he chuckled to himself for a moment. "I challenge you to a duel, Tigrevurmud Vorn! Or do you huntsmen have no sense of fair play as well as honor?!"

"Has he gone insane?" Ellen asked Tigre. Tigre said nothing, instead only nudged his horse forward to meet Zion's challenge. "Wait, you don't mean to-!"

"I don't like where this is going at all," the head of Almed's Murasame shook its head. Ray, however, said nothing as well, except gripping the holographic image of his combined GN Buster Swords.

_I sure hope you know what you're doing, Tigre…_

Zion and Tigre faced off, both of them on horseback. Zion himself was armed with a large shield and a long lance, the traditional weapons of a Brune knight. "No weapons at all, Vorn? Why don't you borrow a spear or a sword from one of your new Zchted friends?"

"This is the only weapon I need," Tigre said firmly, presenting the black bow in a noble fashion.

"Dueling with a bow? That's ridiculous! You'd only get one surprise attack before I skewer you!" Zion cracked.

"You want to put it to the test? You're welcome to try." Tigre notched an arrow on the bowstring and fired right at Zion's head.

Zion, unfazed, raised his shield, and the arrow hit it. "You see that? That's all that bow's good for!" Tigre merely took a second shot, this time at his chest. Again, the shield protected Zion from the arrow. "Try it all you like! It'll never work!" Tigre took a third shot. It failed like the other two. "Oh, for gods' sakes, you clearly can't take a hint! I'll just take that head off your body and end this now, Vorn!" Zion charged, lance trained at the spot between Tigre's eyes.

Tigre, however, remained as cool and collected as ever, a fourth arrow on the bowstring. Even with Zion charging against him with a spear aimed right at his head, he knew the next shot would not miss. He inhaled, aimed for the center of Zion's shield, and fired.

…

…

SPLAT.

Zion's lance scythed past Tigre's cheek, drawing only a hint of blood. Tigre didn't even flinch.

Zion himself was another story. He cried out in pain, the fourth arrow sticking right through his shield and through his forearm. Nobody but Tigre was aware that the archer wasn't shooting wildly. Indeed, all four arrows were concentrated on the same spot, the center of the shield. It was enough to puncture a shield made of oak covered in tempered steel. So long had the bow been derided as a coward's weapon in Brune, but now everyone could see the true strength Tigre had. And it was frightening to behold.

"I just…I can't…_how_…!?" Almed, once again, was lost for words.

"I said it before, Almed. I don't even question it anymore," Ray said.

"That man really is uncanny…" Ellen agreed.

Zion looked up amidst his groans and unchecked screaming, only to find that Tigre had a fifth arrow ready, this one aimed right for the center of his forehead.

"Protect Lord Zion!" the Brune army, sensing their lord was in danger, quickly charged.

"Protect Tigre!" Ellen took the rest of the Zchted army to meet the charge. Another melee broke out, but still outnumbered more than three to one, the battle was now mostly in its cleanup phase. Ellen joined Tigre at his side. "I wasn't entirely sure how that would turn out!"

Tigre merely smiled. "Well, it's just as it seems."

Unfortunately, their good mood was quickly spoiled by a short, sudden blast of wind. Looking up, he saw that Zion somehow had abandoned his horse, reached the sky dragon, and was now taking off into the air away from the battle. "I may have lost here, Vorn, but my father will put an end to you and your precious Alsace! I won't be dying here, and especially not to you!"

Ellen snarled. "My Ley Admos won't be able to reach at him at that height. Ray!"

"I'm on it!" Ray said, the GN Condensers on this leg shooting open, but suddenly Julius managed to tackle him, preventing him from taking off after him. "Get off me!"

"I will not let you harm my lord!" Julius countered. "Casper, finish him!"

"But, brother…!" Casper began.

"This is to protect Gretchen and Fiora!" Julius snapped. "We can't let the Meijin live!"

"Would you let me go if I promised your family's safety?" Ray asked.

"You? Protect our family?" Julius growled skeptically.

"If you let me go, then on my honor as the Meijin of Leitmeritz, I'll do whatever I can to get your family out of Thernadier's territory!" Ray countered.

"You would? But…why?" Casper asked, lowering his beam tomahawk.

"I have a sister too," Ray grunted, still trying to take off in spite of the ReZEL holding him fast to the ground. "You don't think the thought of her being that guy's wife doesn't make me sick, too!? I'd do anything to save my family, same as you!"

"You're lying! Casper, finish him!" Julius snapped. However, Casper seemed to have frozen, torn between his loyalty to Zion and his desire to protect his sisters. But his own inaction had been enough to keep Ray from being able to catch Zion, well out of range for Ray to chase him down even in Trans-Am.

Tigre could only watch Zion fly away, well out of his already impeccable accurate range. And even if it wasn't, shooting a dragon was already proven to be folly, as the land dragon resisted his arrows and even a beam rifle blast from Almed. It made him frustrated. It made him angry.

_Is this it? Is he going to get away? Are we just going to let him go? _

…

…

_**Shoot the dragon.**_

Tigre blinked, wondering where the female voice had come from. It wasn't Ellen, or any person he was familiar with. It seemed to have come from something completely invisible, yet near enough to be heard as though she were whispering in his ear.

_**I'll say it once more. Shoot the dragon.**_

Looking down, he saw that something had come over the black bow in his hand, a kind of black energy he hadn't seen before. It wasn't like the shimmering energy of Alifar, but it still felt quite similar to it. And as he looked into it, he thought of a crying Titta, her clothes tattered, still clutching the black bow for him. He thought of a kneeling Ray, looking shocked and angry over the corpse of Nathan. And then Ellen, challenging him to do the unthinkable and offer himself and Alsace to her.

His doubts left him.

He took the last arrow in his quiver and notched it, aiming upward at the retreating dragon. The black energy seemed to concentrate around his arrowhead. And then, there was a slight hiss of wind, even though the air around him was calm.

"Wait…are you giving him strength?" Ellen looked at Alifar, still in her hand. Indeed, the mystical sword in her hand seemed to be giving its magical wind to strengthen Tigre's shot.

"What the hell…?" Ray also noticed that particles seemed to be leaving the 00 Raiser Dash to join the bow as well, from both his GN Drives and the blue Plavsky-like particles that allowed the Gunpla to Manifest. "Are you helping him, Raiser Dash?"

Tigre knew for certain. Zion had scorched his lands, killed his people, and brought harm to Titta and Ray.

There would be no forgiveness.

_This arrow…will hit!_

He let fly.

The winds of Alifar and the particles of the Raiser Dash followed in its wake, leading it on its path, as trails of black energy carved a helix-like pattern through the air. It struck the sky dragon, and Zion along with it, right across the side of its abdomen. If Zion had a death scream, it was not heard. The only noise that followed was the sound of the sky dragon crashing into a nearby lake. Even though its body surfaced, Zion's never did.

"…um, GG?" Ray asked hopefully.

Ellen didn't question her Meijin about his words, and instead raised Alifar into the air. "Tigrevurmud Vorn has shot down Zion Thernadier! We have victory!"

"UUUUOH!" The Zchted army cheered as Ray dismissed the 00 Raiser Dash, now freed thanks to the shocked Julius letting him go, adjusting his scarf and leather jacket, and then took off to meet Tigre and Ellen.

"You wonderful son of a bowman, you did it!" Ray cheered as well, drawing the still-unsure-of-what-just-happened Tigre into his long and lanky arms. "What a shot!"

The Battle of Molsheim Plains was over.

* * *

><p>That night, the army was back on the road, with Alsace barely starting to become visible over the hills. Tigre insisted that he wanted to inform the villagers of their victory and celebrate with a feast. It was the least he could do for the Zchted soldiers that had fought on his behalf. Tigre had managed to use a grand total of eight quivers, all of which were being carried by Bertrand throughout the battle, and all he had suffered in the battle was the cut on his cheek and the wound on his hand being reopened, but Rurick tended to that quickly. The Brune forces had scattered easily once Zion had fallen, and as for the Des Moines brothers, officially they would be taken in as prisoners of war. Ray insisted that, even though they couldn't keep their Manifestation Devices (for obvious reasons), that they still be treated fairly.<p>

"Thank you, Ellen, Ray, for everything for you have done."

"For the time being, consider it a victory."

"For the time being," Tigre said, echoing Lim's words. Even though he had won here, Duke Thernadier would not be as forgiving. Worse still was Duke Ganelon. In fact, most of the nobles and courtiers in King Faron's court were going to be talking about this. He still did invite a foreign enemy into the country with no preamble or even a real _casus belli _to justify it. And that wasn't even bringing up what would happen to Ellen and Ray on the Zchted side of things.

"Though, there is something else. I have heard legends about a magical bow," Lim continued. "It says a man received a legendary bow from a goddess. As long as he wielded, he would be victorious against all enemies. With this power he became a king and thus was called 'the King of the Magic Bullet.'"

"I'm curious," Tigre piped up. "Was the king's incarnation that of a black dragon?"

"The goddess doesn't appear in the story of our founder, so the story could be older. I wasn't able to see your bow's power, so I couldn't say for certain."

"Maybe that's what we'll call you from now on," said Ellen.

"I'll still have to call you Lady Vanadis or Wind Princess of the Silver Flash," Tigre replied.

"Oh, don't bother. I was kidding!"

"At least face your facial expression when you say so, Lady Eleonora."

"Guess becoming king isn't your thing, though, is it, Tigre?" Ray asked. Tigre shook his head.

"It'd better not be. He still belongs to me, remember!" Ellen reminded. "Though you could at least explain what was going on with that maid of yours. You seemed so intent on saving her yesterday."

"He can tell us when he's good and ready. But right now, I'm more into what's for dinner. I'm starving!" Ray said.

"Maybe over the feast Tigre has in store for us you could tell us tales and sing songs from Canada, Meijin Kens!"

"Tell you what. You bribe me with enough food and drink, I'll sing all the songs I know of a Canadian bard I know by the name of Andrew W.K…."

Tigre sighed, looking out as he saw the lights of Alsace waiting for him, and its people. There'd be time to worry about the repercussions of the battle tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>And with that, the battle is over! But the war that's sure to follow in its wake is just about ready to kick off. Will Tigre be able to cope now that he's squarely in Duke Thernadier's crosshairs? And when Ray and Ellen go to settle things in Zchted, a potentially frosty enemy and her own Meijin will possibly challenge them next! Find out who on the next chapter: Silvfrau, Michelia, Raiser, Savior!<strong>


End file.
